She's a Rebel II: Unravel
by Jewelgirl04
Summary: Jessica finally has the perfect life, with the family, boyfriend, and career to prove it. After a night that's supposed to make her career goes horribly wrong, a chance injury threatens to take it all away. Cena X OC
1. Chapter 1

_The Rebel's Release - September 20, 2005_

_I don't even really know how to start this first post off, so forgive me if I come off sounding ungrateful for your patronage on this site because I skipped the heading. There's just no greeting I can give today; I'm not in the mood._

_I'm sure you guys all came here because you either watched Unforgiven and saw what happened firsthand, someone told you what happened, or you watched last night's RAW. Well, I'm here. And I'm going to explain everything._

_The match was going absolutely fine on Sunday night and I was poised to win my sixth WWE Women's Title against Lita. Now, I know what a lot of you are thinking, "Jessica, you got cocky." But I swear, I didn't._

_While I haven't faced Lita often in my career, due to the whole issue of her being my ex-best friend, I have seen her in action recently and been in tag matches against her. She does not go down easily… well, except on Edge, that is, but that's a whole 'nother story. Anyway, I knew that the Shooting Star Press might not do it, so I had to take it a little old school, do something I hadn't done in years._

_I don't know, maybe it should have stayed in the past. Maybe I was holding onto something that was meant to be let go, I just don't know. Either way, it doesn't matter._

_So when I went to jump into the air, after locking Lita in the Windbreaker (flapjack powerslam), and when I came down to drop her, I felt my knee lock and give. That's why I went to my knees, I don't know if you guys noticed it or not because I've been told that nothing looked wrong at the time. _

_Moving on, I wasn't going to give up… so I locked in the Blackout, knowing that if she kicked out of the pin, I would have to give up. So I put all my weight on my left knee and left it to fate._

_Turned out, fate screwed me over. She cradled me and that was it. She retained and I was in a hell of a lot of pain. _

_I was injured before the match even ended, Lita just aggravated it. Okay, she didn't __just__ aggravate it, she wrecked it to the point where I couldn't walk, but that's just being technical, I suppose._

_In all of this, the person I felt the worst for, oddly enough, was John. He came running out as soon as he saw, which did get Lita out of the ring, but he had a match a little while later. It didn't help his mindset at all._

_Personally, I think he hit Angle with the belt just to get the hell out of there at a certain point. Stephanie was backstage and said that he wasn't in his right mind at all after they took me to the hospital. Hell, if it weren't for the title, I might have let him forfeit and come with me in the ambulance, but… he's the Champ. And he's John Cena._

_He's not a quitter._

_At the hospital, they took a few X-rays, but couldn't tell anything. Wow, shocker there._

_Yesterday morning, I flew out to visit Dr. Andrews, went for an MRI, and flew back home to Boston, where John's mom stayed with me for the day. The digital CD of images were sent over to his office and I'm expecting a call tomorrow morning._

_After RAW, John flew home on the red-eye flight. So now, we're both sitting here. Rather, I'm sitting here and he's walking around. It's weird how I've become so envious of other people for doing every day tasks. I don't know, maybe this injury give me new perspective._

_My mother tried to tell me yesterday morning that it might just be sore or strained and nothing serious at all, so I should stay positive._

_Listen, I love my mother to death and she's an incredibly intelligent woman, but I know that's not the case. Seriously, I KNOW. This isn't one of those injuries that you're iffy on, okay? I am 100 sure that I have a serious injury to my knee. And that brings me to my next point…_

_I started this website, and subsequently this blog, in order to keep in contact with all of you fans out there who were curious about my condition. Chances are, I'm going to be gone for a long time. Maybe not Kurt Angle's broken-freaking-neck-long, but… think Triple H's quadriceps long._

_I just… I just don't want you guys to forget about me, that's all. I want to stay involved with World Wrestling Entertainment as much as I can. If that means working on this site and… licking envelopes in the mailroom, then so be it._

_This business is my life, my blood, my everything… and I intend to stick around as long as I can._

_Until next time,  
Jessica_

* * *

God, she wished she believed those words. 

After hitting the _post_ button on the screen of her laptop, she sighed. Like everything else in the wrestling world, this site was just a show, to keep her name fresh on people's tongues.

But being loved and remembered wasn't what concerned her most anymore.

She looked down at her right knee, wrapped in so many ace bandages and ice packs that she could barely tell it was there anymore.

Jessica moved to get up and felt a stabbing pain shoot through her right leg.

Oh no, it was DEFINITELY still there.

"Ow," Jessica winced, placing a hand on the back of her chair and hopping up and down, "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Whoa…" a voice warned her from the doorway. "Easy there, killer."

"I'm fine," she replied stubbornly and shook him off.

But as she tried to stand back up and hobble out the door, her knee gave out yet again.

"Ugh… damn you stupid thing!" she yelled at her knee, still struggling to stand up straight.

"I don't think it's going to answer you, Jess," John shook his head and walked over towards her, reaching for her arm. "Come on, let me help you."

"No!" Jessica pulled her arm out of his grasp. "I can do it. I don't need help."

John quickly looked away from her and nodded, taking a few steps back.

She let go of the chair and kept her hands frozen in the air, gaining her balance as if she was walking a tightrope. But when she attempted to take a step forward, the familiar pain ripped through her body and she collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Ignoring her previous orders, John rushed over to her side and tried to pull her up by her forearms.

"Let me go!" she pushed off of him. "I can do this!"

"Baby, I know you can," John assured her calmly, "But I'd feel much better if you just let me help you."

"I'm not an invalid, Cena!" she sniped back, using her forearms to pull herself up again, with the assistance of the chair. "I am more than capable of standing on my own two feet, thank you very much!"

Silence struck him as he stood there, watching her struggle to feet.

So far, every hour he spent with her was absolutely heartbreaking. Jessica was probably the most independent person that he knew and watching her fight with her inability to do things for herself tore at his heartstrings.

She wouldn't let him do anything for her normally, whether it was carrying her suitcase or getting her something from the next room, and now it was especially difficult.

As much as she hated to admit it, Jessica needed John's help, but just because she needed it, didn't mean she was going to ask for it.

This time, Jessica got to her feet and took a step, left foot first.

"See," she held her hands up in the air proudly, fanning her palms outward as she took another step, "Nothing to i-"

Suddenly, her right knee gave out again and she fell forward, but John quickly got to his feet and caught her in his arms.

"Let me go," she screamed, struggling from his grasp, "Let me go!"

"Jess, I'm just trying to help…"

"I don't need anyone's help," she yelled back as he pulled her to her feet again. "I don't!"

"I know you don't," he replied calmly, "I just don't want you to hurt yourself."

"It's a little late for that…" she retorted, pushing at his strong arms.

"Please, Jess…" he plead with her to stop fighting him.

"No!" Jessica swatted away at his hands, "Let me go!"

John refused to let her go as he held on tight.

"Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" she yelled, still fighting him as he pulled her to his chest.

"It's okay…"

"No," Jessica sobbed into his chest, finally breaking down, "It's not okay."

"It will be, Jess," John held onto her tightly, one hand firmly at the nape of her neck, the other around her waist. "But you can't keep pushing me away."

"I… I can't help it," she mumbled into his shirt, her tears staining the grey fabric.

"I know you can't help it," he replied sympathetically, "But all I want to do is help you. Believe me, you've spent all of this time in your life relying on yourself… and you've become extremely self-sufficient, but you can't do that anymore, sweetheart."

John sighed as she nodded against his body.

"Look, I WANT you to be able to walk around and yell at me for carrying your suitcase. I WANT you to have to drive when we go out because my insurance is way too high for me to even think about receiving another ticket. Hell, I even WANT you to be able to kick my ass up and down this house!"

Jessica pushed back off of him, forcing his other arm to her waist, as she wiped away a tear, "Really?"

"Well… no," he chuckled with a slight smile, his azure eyes growing brighter, "But if it makes you happy, then…yeah."

"But what about the surgery?" she asked him, taking the realistic scenario into consideration.

Jessica was at least content knowing that John wasn't as jaded as her mother when it came to her need for surgery.

"What about it?"

"Well, you can't exactly stay home and look after me for two months until I can be somewhat on my own again," she reminded him.

"I already thought of that this morning," he replied with a proud grin, "And I called my mom. She volunteered to stay with you for the first two months until you can be on your own…"

Jessica opened her mouth to protest, but John cut her off almost immediately.

"But before you even say anything at all," he bowed his head slightly, "She was planning on asking you if she could stay here for a while so that she could see my brothers more often. She offered, Jess, and it works out well for the both of you."

"I know," she scrunched her nose, "But I don't want to inconvenience her…"

"Stop it," John began quickly. "Mom loves you like a daughter, you're like another one of her children… and someday, you very well could be… so she insisted on staying here. Plus, it gives her an opportunity to see Jamie, Steve, and the kids more often. You know she doesn't really come around here on the weekends during the fall; it's hard for her to come over. Now, she'll be around more. TRUST ME, Jessica, it's fine."

"You sure?" she eyed him.

"YES!" John laughed. "I'm sure."

"Good," Jessica nodded. "But what about winter time? It gets snowy and icy…"

"Once again, planned that out already," he nodded proudly. "You're moving into my house in Tampa. I just bought it in May and it's completely empty, aside for a bed. You get to design the interior."

"John, I really don't need to design your house…"

"Correction, our house… and it'll keep you busy."

"Our house?" her eyes lit up.

"Our house," he nodded. "I know it's going to be hard and it sucks that I can't relate to you because I really want to be there for you from an emotional standpoint. Hopefully, we can work on this while I'm on the road. Email me a few sample colors, a cool couch or something… I don't know. But either way, we'll make it work while I'm gone."

"Are you at least going to stick around for the surgery?" she looked up at him hopefully.

"Do you really think I'd go off on the road, knowing you were going under the knife?" he arched an eyebrow at her. "Think again. I'll probably be here for a week and then turn you over to Nurse Cena."

"You know, I'd much rather you be Nurse Cena," she smirked.

"My mom looks better in a skirt."

"Ugh," Jessica cringed.

"What?" John panicked and looked at her knee. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just got the image from that Blink-182 album, with the nurse, in my head… but she has your mom's face..." Jessica eyes widened as she trailed off and a hand flew to her mouth. "Shit."

_Blink-182. Record. Recording. _

"Okay, bi-polar one… what's wrong now?"

_Recording contract…_

"I have a record to make, John!" she rubbed her hands over her face. "How the hell am I going to do that now?!?"

"I'm sure it can be postponed…"

"John," Jessica folded her arms over her chest, "When Clive Davis throws seven figures your way, shit cannot just be postponed."

John pursed his lips and nodded slowly, "We'll call in the morning."

* * *

**A/N: They're baaaaaaaack!**

**Yep, folks, Jessica McMahon and John Cena are back in action. This is the first chapter of what will be many more of She's a Rebel II: Unravel.**

**Like I said, it's a little bit darker. You see the more emotional, vulnerable side of Jessica that you didn't really know was there before in this chapter. Chapter 2 is in the works and it will be up soon.**

**In the meantime… FEED THE FEEDBACK MONSTER! Review, my lovely readers!**

**Tell your friends that like Jessica and John, I'm back in action, as well!**

**By the way, challenge for my readers. Find a cute coupled name for John and Jess. IE: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner... Bennifer. Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston... Vaughniston.**

**See where this is going? I thought so.**

**Until next time,**

**Danielle**


	2. Chapter 2

When a doctor tells you that you're going to receive a call from him around noon, you're prepared… to an extent, at least.

You prepare a list of questions like "How long will I be out of action for?" or "When can I start working out again?" Chances are, he'll have those answers for you along with a million others you could possibly have.

You schedule your surgery over the phone and then follow his explicit instructions, knowing that as a doctor, he has your best interests in mind.

But when your doctor tells you that you're going to receive a call from him around noon the next day and then shows up on your doorstep when his practice is in Alabama, something has to be wrong.

And that's exactly what flew through John Cena's mind as he opened the door on Wednesday morning and spotted Dr. James Andrews on his doorstep.

"Doctor Andrews?" he cocked his head to the side. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Birmingham?"

"Well, yes," James nodded, running a hand through his graying temples. "Under normal circumstance, I would be…"

"John?" a feminine voice called from inside. "Who is at the door?"

John pulled the door aside, allowing Dr. Andrews to completely see inside the house at this point. From the doorway, he could clearly see Jessica hobbling down the corridor on crutches.

"Oh," she paused and smiled before continuing towards the door, "I wasn't expecting to hear from you this early, let alone see you."

The doctor nodded, "I know, but I figured I'd discuss matters with you in person, if you don't mind."

"No," Jessica shook her head and headed into the kitchen, "Not at all. Please come in."

"You heard the boss," John chuckled, "Come on in."

James Andrews nodded and walked past the younger man into the house. As he glanced around, he noticed that this wasn't typical of many of the WWE Superstars' homes that he had visited while checking up on his patients.

Often, many of them had outlandish furniture and paintings, colors so odd that they could only be found in a crayon box.

But Jessica's house was different. From his conversations with her family members, he knew that this house had originally belonged to her grandmother, Diana. While a few heirlooms lingered in the house, it was clear that much of the house had been updated since then.

The couches and carpeting looked new, as did the paint in all of the rooms he could see. However, the wooden floors looked exactly the same as Vince had once described.

As he entered the kitchen, he noticed that his patient was sitting down on an ivory chair and took a seat cross from her at the table, John sitting to her right.

"Look," Andrews sighed, "I'm not going to beat around the bush, so I'm going to tell it like it is. Jessica," he addressed her, "You tore your ACL in your left knee, as well as your lateral meniscus…"

"Well," Jessica began, "That's not so bad. That's only a few months until a full recovery…. I remember when Oscar did it…"

"I'm not finished, Jess," he cut her off. "You need microfracture surgery. Trust me, I've vacillated over this for two days now, but it's the only way you'll be able to wrestle again."

Jessica was nearly speechless, "W-w-wait, what?"

"Jessica, you've done so much damage to your knee," Dr. Andrews shook his head and removed his glasses from his eyes.

"Wait a second, Doctor," John interred, "Are you telling us that her knee is almost irreparable?"

"No!" he assured them. "Not in the slightest!"

"So what _are_ you saying?" John continued to interrogate him, quickly losing patience with Dr. Andrews.

"I'm saying that microfracture surgery is her best shot at wrestling again."

"I've heard about that surgery. Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin had that surgery. Isn't it experimental?"

"It was then, but know, while it isn't common, it is effective…"

"You call drilling a hole in her knee effective, Andrews?"

"John, I can assure you that I've contemplated this thoroughly…"

"Well I'm glad that you have contemplated," John sniped, setting his jaw, "In a day."

"I don't have to explain my entire thought process to you, Cena," Andrews retorted calmly. "My doctorate entitles me to that."

"Now you listen to me, before you get really upset and lose it. How can you possibly let a 60 recovery rate…"

"Seventy percent," he corrected the younger man."

"Seventy, whatever. It's still new and unproven."

"John, it's the best shot she has…" he added, rising to his feet.

"I don't care what you say!" John stood and rubbed his temples, "It's risky. This isn't a Las Vegas casino, Andrews! This is her career you're gambling with…"

"How long?"

Both men stopped arguing and turned towards the formerly-silent Jessica McMahon.

Andrews placed his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, "What did you say?"

"How long?" she repeated.

"Jessica," John frowned, his eyebrows furrowing at her question, "You can't possibly be serious…"

Jessica helped up a hand to silence him.

"Dr. Andrews," she addressed the elder man, "I asked you a question. How long until I can get back into the ring if I do this?"

"If you get it done in a few days, call it October…" he trailed off, tapping his chin, "Best case scenario, next July."

"That's ten months!" her boyfriend exclaimed.

"Can I wrestle without it?" she asked him, but was met with silence. "James…?"

"No, Jessica," he shook his head. "Never again."

Jessica nodded, her eyes beginning to brim with tears.

"Well then, Dr. Andrews," she stood with great effort and shook his hand, "I genuinely appreciate all of your time and effort. I'll be in touch to schedule the surgery."

"You're welcome," he smiled weakly. "If you have any questions, ask my secretary for my cell. I've already instructed her to do so if you choose."

"Thank you," she replied monotonously, "Now, if you'll excuse me, it's been a rather rough day. I think I'm going to lie down."

"Yes, please do," the doctor nodded. "I'm sure John will show me out."

For a minute or so, no words were spoken as both men watched Jessica hobble across the kitchen and they listened as she slowly climbed the stairs.

Once upstairs, they heard a door shut loudly and knew she had gone into her bedroom.

"Is she going to be alright?" Dr. Andrews asked the younger man before him, locking his briefcase on the table top.

"I don't know," John shook his head and slid his hands into his pockets. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

"Physically, Cena," he began. "She's going to be okay, but I need her to be her normal, sarcastic, pain in the ass self."

"You actually want her to be that way?" John's eyes bulged slightly.

"It's when she's got that fire in her blood…"

"And what if she doesn't?"

"Since when are you on board?" Andrews eyed him.

"I never said I was," John corrected him. "I just want as much information as I can get. We're not talking about some random girl, Andrews. This is the love of my life and I just so happen to care what becomes of her."

"Easy, John. I never said you didn't, but the reason I wanted to tell you was because I know that you have the best shot at getting through to her. That fire is what pushes her beyond her breaking point."

"And what if she stays this way/" he inquired, almost wary of the doctor's reply.

Andrews paused briefly and pushed at the glasses with his middle finger.

"She'll never wrestle again."

* * *

After Dr. Andrews left, John sat down on the couch for around an hour. Along the walls ahead of him, and lining the mantle of the fireplace, were the replica belts, photos, plaques, and all other awards that Jessica had received, dating all the way back to the year 1985.

But no matter how many trophies and plaques sat on the mantle, John's crystal blue eyes always settled on the leather and gold belt that hung above it.

It wasn't necessarily the flash of the plates that constantly caught his eye. Instead, it was what the belt represented.

As soon as Jessica had won her first Women's Championship back in 1998, Vince had presented her with a replica belt, as all superstars received upon the victory that gave them their first title.

As a reminder of her success and a way to constantly remind her of her need to persevere, it was always suspended over the fireplace.

The more he sat there and thought about it, the more the same thought resonated in his head.

* * *

After an hour, John dared to venture upstairs, more so to take his mind off the Women's Title belt than anything else.

When he got to the bedroom, he attempted to turn the doorknob, but it would not budge.

He pushed all of his body weight against the door.

Wouldn't budge.

"Jess," he called to his girlfriend through the white wood. "Can you open the door for me?"

"No," she replied from the other side, burying her face into the pillow.

"Jessica," John sighed. "Come on…"

"No" she repeated firmly, her voice slightly muffled by the fluffy object. "I just need to be alone, John."

"But, I…"

"I SAID," Jessica's voice rose as she sat up again, her voice now crystal clear, "ALONE, John."

"Fine," he nodded. "I'll be downstairs if you need me."

For a moment, John stood there, hoping that she'd reply. He didn't care if it was a sentence, a word… or even a sound. He just wanted something to let him know anything at all.

But from Jessica's side of the door came no audible reply and with his head hanging low, John Cena dejectedly trudged down the stairs.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry that Chapter 2 took so long, but with school just starting, it was hard to find time. But then by the grace of a higher power, two of my classes got switched and BOOM! My blessing arrived…**

**Health Class.**

**So now you all know what really happened to Jessica's knee: ACL tear with a lateral meniscus tear, as well. I don't know if you guys know what microfracture surgery is, but it's really difficult to recover from.**

**That being said, I don't know if I let you guys know that back in June, I got tackled in my gym class while playing Ultimate Frisbee… which is apparently, a tackle sport, even though I had been in possession of the Frisbee in the end zone for well over five seconds. Go figure.**

**Anyway, I was told that I had a tear in my lateral meniscus and that at some point, I should go for an MRI. But then I went on that trip to Europe and I was writing and fishing and working… and it took a backseat.**

**Well, then sometime around the start of school, I began to feel my knee shift and give. Then, folks, it was time for an MRI.**

**And guess who tore her ACL and Lateral Meniscus?**

**I swear to God, you can ask Julia (goddessofthenite) and Lauren (writethisdown4you) and they'll totally attest to the fact that I knew that she was going to do both back in… July. **

**The reason I had originally selected that specific injury was because when I was 14, I tore both in my right knee and had it repaired, so I knew what it was like. Now, I'm having surgery October 18****th****, so that means no writing for like… three days. And then a bunch of writing for a week.**

**Weird part is that you'll know how I'm doing by how Jessica's doing. I plan to have her go in for surgery on October 17****th****. Coincidental? You bet not.**

**But to jump to another topic, the rest of Unravel, as well as its impending sequel, are dedicated to John Cena. **

**I know what it's like to be ripped away from the life you know and love because of five seconds of stupidity. I know what it's like to know in one moment that it's over. I know what it's like to be confined to a shell of the life you're used to leading, having to scratch, claw, and push your way back to your original state, only to realize that you're forever left with a mark to remind you of your past mistakes.**

**It's a crazy rollercoaster of emotions, but what I do know is that the first time you can back into that gym and go, "Hey. I can do my old routine again…" it's completely worth it.**

**And John, if you should ever stumble upon this for some crazy reason, remember this, in the words of Keanu Reeves in The Replacements: **

**Chicks dig scars.**

**Danielle **

**PS: If anyone has any address that I can send an e-Mail or letter to for John, I'd appreciate if you contacted me about it. I feel like I finally have someone to relate to on this one and I kind of don't want to pass it up. Thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3

"I don't know, Mom," John sighed, the cordless phone resting between his shoulder and his jaw, "I just can't get her out of the bedroom."

"Normally, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, would it?" his mother joked.

"Not appropriate, _Mother_," he shot back.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she apologized with a sigh. "I was just trying to lift your spirits, that's all."

"Yeah… not happening any time soon."

Carol Cena's tone turned serious again. "How long has she been up there?"

"A week and a half…"

"Is she sleeping?"

"Sometimes…"

"Is she bathing?"

"Twice a day."

"Is she eating?"

"I heard her walk downstairs in the middle of the night a week ago and haven't seen her since…Christ," John mumbled. "Call on the other line."

"I'll wait…"

"Thanks, Mom. Hold on…" he instructed her calmly and tapped two buttons on the phone. "Hello? No, Stephanie, she hasn't come out yet. Yes, I will tell her when she goes. Okay, bye bye."

John clicked another button on the phone.

"Back, it was Steph again."

"How many times has she called?" Carol asked.

"Six times…"

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Hold on…"

_Click._

"Hi, Amy. Nope. She's still up there," John sighed. "Did you try her cell? You left how many messages? Damn. Well, there goes that option. Alright, I'll let you know."

_Click._

"Who was that this time, baby?" Carol asked her second eldest son.

"Amy."

"Who else has called today?"

"Besides Amy…" he trailed off in thought, "Steph, Linda, Paul, Shane, and Marissa."

"And she still won't pick up the phone?" Carol's jaw dropped.

"They're just getting started," John chuckled. "Call me at eleven tonight and the number will have tripled!"

"Jesus, John…"

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"I'm sorry, Mom," he sighed. "Give me a second."

"Take your time."

_Click._

"Hello?" he questioned into the receiver. "Oh, hello, Vince. Yes, yes, I'm fine. Oh… Jess?" he swallowed hard. "She's uh… she's okay, I guess. No, no. You don't need to fly in. I have everything under control," John assured his employer. "I don't know why she won't answer her cell phone… yes, sir, I will be sure to tell her just that. Question, if I lose an appendage for saying that, can I get workman's comp? No, huh? Damn. Alright, well, my mother's on the other line, but I will be sure to give her the message. Yes, see you soon. Take care."

_Click._

"So, uh, that was Vince."

His mother snorted, "Better you than me."

"Mom!" he protested.

"What?" she laughed. "It's entirely true."

_Alright, stop. Collaborate… and listen. Ice is back with a brand new invention…_

"Mom, that's my cell… can I call you back later tonight, when all is quiet on the West Newbury front?"

"Sure, sweetheart," Carol agreed with a laugh. "I'll call you before I go to sleep."

"Thanks. Bye, Mom."

_Click._

John hung up the phone on the wall and walked over to the kitchen table where his cell phone was slowly moving across the table, set on ring and vibrate.

"What is it now, Orton?"

"Is she out yet?" Randy asked in a whiny tone.

"What was my answer last time?" John asked him with a deep sigh.

"Not yet, but I'll call you when she is," Randy repeated.

"Answer's the same. I'll call you if anything changes. Goodbye, Randal…"

"But…"

John clicked off the phone and fought the urge to chuck it at the wall.

_Who knew women could be this difficult?_

Laughing at his own internal joke, he sat down in the family room and opened the lap top. Currently, John's bedroom, also known previously as the family room, acted as an office… temporarily.

John typed for a few moments and waited for AOL to load.

"You've got mail," the salutary voice announced.

With a few clicks, John's inbox popped up on the screen.

* * *

**To: JCSoxFan423 **

**From: SHardcastle**

**Re: (No Subject)**

**Hey, man. Just checking in to see what's up and how the boss lady's doing. Amy says hi. **

**Adam**

**

* * *

To: SHardcastle **

From: JCSoxFan423

**Re: Re: (No Subject) **

**Nice to hear from you, Stranger. At least you're not harassing me everyday like Ms. Dumas over there. Look, I don't know how Jess is doing, but judging from the footsteps I've been hearing all day, better… I think. **

**John**

**

* * *

To: JCSoxFan423 **

From: DMBautista

Re: Hey

**Angie wanted me to ask how Jess was, even though I know that I'm pestering you. Although, I do enjoy that. **

**Take care, **

**Dave **

**

* * *

To: DMBautista **

**Re: Re: Hey **

**Dave- **

**You were right. **

**John**

**PS: Hi, Angie.**

**

* * *

****To: JCSoxFan423**

**From: CanadianBlondeshell **

**Re: Tell you girlfriend… **

**… to answer my damn phone calls. **

**Trish**

**

* * *

To: JCSoxFan423**

**From: LtCena79 **

**Re: You **

**Unlike our mother, I'm checking up on YOU. How are you doing? **

**Your favorite bro, **

**Dan**

**

* * *

To: LtCena79**

**From: JCSoxFan423 **

**Re: Thank you **

**I'm glad I have my YOUNGER bro to check up on me. Actually, it's a welcome question, but a loaded one. **

**I guess I'm as good as can be expected… sleeping downstairs. She won't even let me in the damn room, Dan. **

**I know she's up there crying half the time, sometimes even to sleep. I swear I hear her on occasion. I wish I could just sleep with her… but not in that way, I just meant that I want to be there for her. Wake up next to her, you know? **

**If you even make a wise crack about this next statement, I will steal your gun from your police locker and hunt you down, but… here goes. **

**As much as I like sex, I'm okay with waiting 'til she's up to it. Weird, right? **

**I know, it freaks me out too. **

**John**

**

* * *

To: RedSoxFan423**

**From: DCarlson **

**Re: Ms. McMahon **

**Mr. Cena, **

**It is at the request of Mr. Davis that Ms. McMahon contact me immediately to discuss her impending surgery. **

**Thank you for your time. **

**Sincerely, **

**Dana Carlson**

**

* * *

To: JCSoxFan423**

**From: LtCena79 **

**Re: You're Welcome **

**To answer your question, when it comes to Jessica… **

**No. **

**-Dan**

**

* * *

To: JCSoxFan423**

**From: LooseLeafRhymes **

**Re: Check this out **

**Yo, look at this. **

_**Click Here

* * *

**_

_Rebel's Release: 10/03/05_

_Hey, guys. Just checking in to let you know that I've scheduled my surgery for October 18__th__ and to say that I won't be updating from around 10/18 – 10/22. Chances are, I'll be on too many painkillers to make much sense. I'll leave the idiocy to John._

_Thank you for all of your letters and support._

_Much love,_

_Jessica._

John continued to stare at the computer and leaned back on the swivel chair positioned in front of the folding table.

_How could she hide this from me? Why didn't she tell me…?_

He was too wrapped up in his thoughts to hear the footsteps heading into the room, as they were cut off by a voice.

"John," it addressed him. "We need to talk."

John spun around in his chair and looked into the hazel eyes of Jessica McMahon, balanced on her crutches ten feet away from him.

He glanced back at the screen and then to her once again, "You think?"

She reached up a red-nailed hand and ran it over her face, "About that…"

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry this one took so long, but I wanted to do it justice. The next chapter is kind of pivotal as it sets up a good portion of story. I hope to have it up before I go into surgery on Thursday morning, but I can't make any promises. Although, reviews do help.**

**And I apologize to the following people:**

**Popmalfoy, Goddessofthenite, AznIntegra, Sammy91, Enigmatic Lotus Leaf, JeffHardyFan02, TheRealKellyAnne, Chain Gang Princess, dj-ssdd, and Chenai.**

**Why?**

**Because I forgot to do my shout outs in my last two chapters… as they were packed with information in my author's notes. **

**My deepest apologies to you all… and I promise I will do all of my shout outs in the following chapters. **

**BUT…**

**I want to know what you guys thought of the screen names. It took me 15 minutes in health class to come up with all of those, so…**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!**

**Danielle **


	4. Chapter 4

"When did you plan on telling me, Jessica?" John asked her, his voice dropping to a low level as he swiveled his chair to face her.

"Well, I was kind of planning on telling you now,_ John_," she replied, placing a definitive emphasis on his name.

"Are we really going to argue over this?" he folded his arms over his chest.

It had been ten days since he has last seen her, even though they were living in the same house.

Since they'd been dating, and even since he had joined the Raw roster, she had never gone a single day without wearing at least a minimal amount of makeup.

In the last two weeks since the accident, she had left her hair wavy right out of the shower and pulled it back in a ponytail.

Standing in front of him now, he noticed her nails were painted light purple and firmly gripping her crutches. No makeup touched her face, which was fresh and clean, and her hair returned to her normal, straightened state. Still, even in a pair of blue plaid flannel pajama bottoms and a blue New York Mets tee shirt, she stood as powerful as always.

"I didn't come down here for an argument," Jessica retorted. "I came down here to talk to you."

"So talk…"

"Can I at least take a seat?" she fidgeted on her crutches and John nodded, heading for the dining room table.

"Before you even launch into the 'why did you tell the world before you told your own boyfriend' tirade, hear me out, alright?" she asked him, sitting beside him in the stiff chair with some difficulty.

"Fine."

"Look, John," she stared down at her hands, clasped in front of her on a sage placemat, "I know you're not exactly on board with this surgery. If the roles were reversed and you made the decision you're asking me to make, I'd support you one hundred and ten percent. And you know that," Jessica added, turning her gaze from her hands to her boyfriend as she slid her hands along the table and covered his left hand with her much smaller palms and fingers.

John looked her over for a few moments as they sat in silence. Her normally brilliant, gold and green-flecked eyes stared at him, yet were clouded over by disappointment.

Her five foot, seven inch body was slightly slouched and he couldn't help but smile internally at her jersey tee.

_Number five. Third baseman. David Wright._

The shirt was only acceptable because as a Mets fan, she shared the natural dislike he possessed for the New York Yankees. Still, every time someone mentioned the name Bill Buckner, talked about the year 1986, or referenced Mookie Wilson, John couldn't help but feel a pang of hatred for his girlfriend's favorite team.

Then again, all she had to say was 2004 World Series and all was well once again.

"I…I… I just need you to have my back on this one, okay?" Jessica searched his eyes for an answer.

John paused, but then sighed deeply, "Are you sure this is what you really want?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Yes, there isn't any other way for me."

"Did you at least think it over?" John asked honestly.

"I had a week and a half to think everything over and I got my hands on every piece of research that I could get my hands on…"

_Jessica sighed as her cell phone rang for the eighteenth time that day._

_The phone buzzed on the nightstand repeatedly and she picked it up to throw it across the room, but as she grasped it in her hands, she stopped._

_Jessica rubbed her eyes and glanced at the caller ID._

_Jeff Hardy._

_With a slight hesitation, she flipped open her clamshell phone._

"_Hello?"_

"_Um… hi," Jeff replied tentatively. "I heard what happened… and I, uh, just wanted to see if you needed anything."_

"_I'm, um… I'm alright, I guess."_

"_Good," he replied and then became silent._

_Jessica sat there, clutching her phone, only hearing steady breathing on the other end. _

_Jeff finally cut through the void, "I know what you did before Backlash."_

_The blonde rubbed her forehead, "I'm sorry, Jeff. I was only trying to h-"_

"_Stop," he halted her. "I wanted to say thank you."_

"_Come again?"_

_He laughed, "You were the one who helped me get clean."_

"_I told you that if you didn't get clean, you'd never work in the WWE again…"_

"_It was the kick in the ass I needed," he replied honestly, "You knew I didn't want to leave. In fact, you didn't want me to leave either…and that's probably why you did it."_

_He knew._

_- - -_

"_What did you just say?" her jaw dropped as she ran a hand through her blonde locks._

"_Dad, you can't keep doing this!" Jessica yelled, pacing across his office._

"_He's a grown man, Jessica," Vince retorted firmly. "And I am NOT having this conversation with you."_

"_Right, that's mature," she rolled her eyes. "This isn't some rookie down in OVW, Dad. We're not discussing his gimmick; we're discussing his well-being."_

"_Like I said," he raised his voice, getting slightly agitated, "He's a grown man. He can make his own decisions, Jess. Let it be already…"_

"_That's not a good enough answer for me," she folded her arms over her chest._

"_It'll have to be," Vince eyed her sternly. "I have dealt with this situation before…"_

"_And you've done such a great job, Dad," she seethed. "What an incredible track record, too. Pillman, Hennig…"_

"_Jessica Juliette McMahon!" Vince bellowed. "Don't you dare even insinuate-"_

"_That what?" she arched an eyebrow at him. "It was your fault?"_

_Vince's face hardened as it ran from pink to crimson in a matter of moments._

"_Please, you know I don't think that," she shook her head at him. "But we're discussing grown men in their 30's, 40's, and 50's who can't take care of themselves. Jeff is only twenty six years old. He can't…"_

"_Like I said, Jess, he's a grown man…"_

"_You're just going to let it go, aren't you?" she chuckled incredulously. "Well, I will not turn a blind eye and watch him go down in flames," she shook her head. "You've left me no choice, Dad. I'm invoking my rights as fifteen percent owner… as of this moment, Jeff Hardy's contract has been terminated."_

_- - -_

"_But it worked… I got clean, I got sober, and it's because of you," Jeff stated with a sense of accomplishment in his voice._

"_I just…" she picked at her nails, "I never wanted it to happen that way."_

"_If you didn't fire me, I might have died, Jessica."_

"_I knew that," she replied softly._

"_And you also brought me back," Jeff stated._

_Jessica's hands dropped onto the bed, "You signed?"_

"_I sighed," he repeated brightly. "You'll have something to look forward to when you return…"_

"_IF I return," Jessica corrected him._

"_You're going to be fine."_

"_Am I?"_

"_Yes," he replied firmly. "You know Dr. Andrews very well. Steve, Amy, Randy, and Paul…we've all seen how great of a surgeon he is. Hell, our careers are proof of that!"_

"_But none of you almost lost your careers!"_

"_Um… hello?" he knocked on the phone with his knuckles. "Have you not seen me nearly kill myself a thousand times?"_

"_Well, yeah…"_

"_And how many times has Randy re-injured his shoulder since Andrews repaired it?"_

"_None."_

"_And did Amy re-tear her ACL?"_

"_No."_

"_And has Steve re-injured his knees?"_

"_No."_

"_And did they all become champions again?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Then what the hell are YOU worried about?"_

"If this is really what you really want to do…" John trailed off.

Jessica exhaled slowly.

"Yes," she nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just… just be there."

"That's not difficult," he replied, standing up from the chair and helping her to her feet.

"I never said it was," Jessica laughed and took the aluminum crutches from John's hands. "I'm doing the hard part."

John chuckled, "Think of it as preparation for childbirth."

"You think I'm going to be the lunatic to put _more_ little Cenas on this planet?" she asked him, hobbling towards the doorway. "Hell no."

"I don't know…" John laughed. "I think your bloodline's a little more volatile than mine."

"Obviously, you didn't think about the whole mood swing thing, now did you? And by the way… I see you did use that word of the day calendar I gave you back in high school as preparation for our SAT's," she smirked.

"You know what? That's not the point of this conversation..."

* * *

**To: Dcarlson **

**From: Rockerchick44**

**Re: Jessica McMahon**

**Dear Ms. Carlson,**

**I am terribly sorry for neglecting to return your e-mail. Life has been a little hectic lately.**

**I wanted to inform you that my surgery has been scheduled for October 18th**

**Hopefully, we will be about to work out arrangements for recording time before then.**

**Sincerely,**

**Jessica McMahon**

**

* * *

**

After another sit-down with Dr. Andrews, it was decided that they would fly into Birmingham to perform the surgery and take the corporate jet back to Boston that night.

They would fly back down once again, a week later, for the first post-op examination appointment and then back to Boston, followed by a drive home to West Newbury. The following morning, John would fly out to Fresno, California for Monday Night Raw and Carol would come to take care of Jessica.

As Jessica laid in bed the night before surgery, she couldn't help but feel like a pinball in the middle of it all. She was being bounced from city to city, state to state, and caretaker to caretaker.

"Hey," John peeked his head around the doorframe, an unclothed shoulder in view. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm alright," she shrugged, her hands folded over her blanket. "You know, you _can_ come in…"

"How do you know I'm wearing clothes?" he challenged her with a smirk.

"I don't know if you're realized this by now, but… I _have_ seen you naked before," she laughed. "Not to mention that you're a little too big to fit behind the doorway these days."

"You're no fun," he pouted.

"Yeah, well… I'm not going to be much fun for a little while, so you might as well get used to this," she sighed. "Sorry about that."

"Hey, hey," John called to her softly, stepping out from behind the doorframe in a pair of blue basketball shorts. "You don't have to apologize for anything… there's nothing to be sorry for."

"Let's be serious here, John," she closed her eyes and ran her hands down her face, "I'm not going to be Mary Sunshine for the next week or so you're home."

John walked across the beige carpet and sat down on the bed beside her.

"Jess, I don't expect you to be anything of the sort," he assured her, rubbing her back lightly. "You have every right to be upset and angry and to complain. I don't want you to pretend you're okay, I want you to get the help that you need."

Jessica ran her bottom layer of teeth across her upper lip, "This just sucks, John."

"I know, baby," John wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, "I know. But I'm going to come home as often as I can and you're right next door to my dad, Sean, and Matt. Plus, when I was sick when I was little, my mom was great at making me feel better."

"You were one of five boys! I think she had a little practice, don't you?"

"Well, yeah…"

"What's she going to do with a girl?"

"Finally be able to baby her without protests that she's too grown up for that kind of mushy crap?" John offered with a laugh.

"You said that to your mother?" her eyes widened.

"Steve."

"I should have known," her eyes narrowed. "That mitten stealer."

John couldn't help but laugh even harder, "You'll be just fine."

**

* * *

A/N: I'm baaaack! **

**My surgery went relatively well and I will give you an update on my doctor's opinion after my first post-op exam tomorrow… well, technically this afternoon. Hehe.**

**Speaking of rehabbing, I hear that John is doing rather well and is ahead of schedule. I believe, as per my physical therapist, that I am on a similar track. Fingers crossed, anyway.**

**I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, as it was written predominantly before my surgery, with the exception of the last scene and a few ad-libs, of course. The response that I have had so far have absolutely astounded me. Keep up the reviews!**

**Plus, I hope you enjoyed the reappearance of Jeff Hardy. A few more blasts from the past can be expected in Chapter 5. Hint hint. Hint hint.**

**Holler: Enigmatic Lotus Leaf, Adrian Jade, MissPhilippinesSuperStar, Jeff HardyFan02, dj-ssdd, Chain Gang Princess, This Chick Is KEWL, Cena130, Goddessofthenite, Sammy91, and Broken.Baby.Gyrl!**

**Thank you all for the well-wishes and Chapter 5 will be on its way soon!**

**Feed the feedback monster. RAWR!**

**Danielle **


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

"Hey, man," John whispered as he held the phone up to his right ear, fully knowing who was on the other end.

"Hey," Randy replied quietly. "How's she holding up?"

"She's doing alright at the moment," he acknowledged. "She's sleeping. The painkillers have kept her knocked out for most of the night."

"What time did you get in?" he asked.

"Well, the surgery was at 10am and we left the hospital close to 6pm," John began, adjusting a vase on her nightstand. "By the time we got on the plane and got to Boston, then drove home… it was close to two in the morning," he yawned. "It's been a long night, Orton."

"I guess it's a good thing she's on painkillers," he laughed lightly. "You could probably use some yourself."

"Probably," John chuckled as well, "But why are you whispering?"

Randy paused for a second, "You know, that's a really good question. I guess I can talk as loud as I want…"

"That depends, what time is it by you?"

"Six," he stated.

"Yeah…" John shook his head and laughed, "You might want to hold off on that."

"Have you even slept at all?" Randy asked him.

"I caught a few hours downstairs after I got her settled in bed. I had to carry her upstairs," John shook his head. "Poor girl was so out of it already. Andrews didn't lie when he said he was putting a six-pack of beer in her IV. She was gone."

"On the couch?"

"Yes, _Randy_. On the couch," John shook his head at his friend's odd question.

"Look," the younger man sighed, "I'm going to head downstairs for breakfast, maybe catch an early start at the gym. Call me if anything changes… I'll talk to you later tonight."

"Alright man," John nodded. "Take care of yourself."

"Yeah, you too… and her," he added. "Get some sleep."

"I will. Bye, Randy."

"Bye, John."

John smiled as he clicked the phone off and placed it down on his dresser.

The truth about Randy Orton often was hazy to most people. He was a ladies man, a player, and somewhat immature. Many thought he was lazy, going AWOL from training in the armed forces and throwing temper tantrums backstage.

In actuality, that Randy Orton had once existed, but it was long before he had gotten to know Jessica McMahon. While they had seen each other on occasion as small children, upon his arrival on Raw, it was Jessica who had really helped Randy mature. She taught him how to conduct himself around other members of the roster, WWE employees, and women in general.

Orton was a completely different man now and at twenty-five years old, showed no signs of reverting back to his former, pig-headed self.

One thing was always for certain, though… he always took care of his best friend.

Yet while John was still lost in his thoughts, the ruffling of fabric behind him brought him back into reality.

A few moments later, a pair of hazel eyes fluttered open and were met by a pair of sapphire orbs.

"Hey," John smiled at her, sitting on the edge of their bed. "How are you feeling?"

Jessica yawned and rubbed her face, "Like I got hit by a bus."

He reached over to the nightstand and picked up a small bottle of prescription pills and waved it in front of her, "And that's why God made these."

"Mmm…" she stretched her arms out. "Remind me to go to church as soon as I can kneel again."

"Alright," John chuckled, "You've got it. Is there anything I can get for you?"

"Do you think you can get rid of this God-forsaken machine?" she asked him, gesturing to the machine her left leg was strapped to, which constantly flexed and extended her leg to increase the range of motion.

"If I could, I would," he replied, "But Dr. Andrews said that you need the CPM machine for a speedy recovery. Anything else I can do for you?"

"No, I think I'm okay for now," Jessica nodded as a smile slowly spread across her face. "It's… it's just good to be home."

"Yeah," her boyfriend agreed, "It definitely is."

"And with all of these flowers and cards…" she acknowledged as she scanned the room, her grin spreading even wider, "How did they get here?"

"Jamie said that they started flooding in yesterday morning."

"Jamie was here?" she asked, a smile still plastered on her face as she thought about his sister-in-law.

"Yes," John nodded. "She and Steve were over at Dad's for breakfast yesterday and a bunch of deliverymen kept showing up, asking if they would take the deliveries since no one was answering here. Apparently," John leaned in a little closer, "There were so many flowers in the kitchen, she made Dan, Sean, and Steve carry them all in here… and Steve went into a sneezing fit."

"What I would have paid to see that…"

"Oh don't worry," he laughed. "She has it all on video."

"Finally!" she threw her hands up in the air in victory, "Retribution for my mitten."

"Can't you just let it go already?" he rolled his eyes at her.

"Tell you what," she began, "I'll let it go… for now… but only if you read to me all of my cards," Jessica finished, extending a hand. "Deal?"

"Deal," he replied, shaking her hand once. "Now where to start…" he pondered, standing up from the bed and looking around the room. "How about we start over here?" he asked her, moving towards the bouquet of daisies all the way in the corner of the room.

"Okay."

"Alright," John started, picking up the neon green vase and bringing it over to her. "Dear Jessica, get well soon. No corkscrews until that knee is better. Love always…"

"Jeff," she finished for him as she shook her head. "Mr. Hardy," she smiled and smelled the flowers, "Pink and orange… you remembered."

"Remembered what?" he turned around and asked her, placing the vase back on the dresser.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all," she smiled to herself. "Next one."

"Is it okay if I just read the cards?" John asked her. "I just don't want to turn into my brother…"

"Sure," Jessica chuckled. "Whose next?"

"This one…" John handed her a card in a light blue envelope.

* * *

_To the greatest aunt on the planet,_

_Get well soon! We miss having you around and can't wait for you to come back to work! Take care of yourself!_

_Love always,  
Marissa, Shane, and Declan_

_PS: Don't ever let Stephanie read this card.

* * *

_

"Aww, that was kind of sweet," she smiled at John.

"Mhmm," he agreed and handed her a white envelope.

* * *

_Dear Jessica,_

_Get well soon._

_Love,_

_Steph and Paul

* * *

_

"How original," Jessica rolled her eyes.

"That's your sister for you," John shook his head as the phone began to ring. "Hello?" he spoke into the cordless phone formerly on the dresser.

Oddly enough, the phone continued to ring.

"Um, I think the battery on this one's dead. I'm going to take this in the office," John informed her as it rang again. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she assured his with a wave. "I'll read the cards while I wait."

John nodded and listened as the phone rang once more.

"Any reason you're just standing here?" she laughed at him and watched as John scurried down the hall.

* * *

_Dearest Jessica,_

_As soon as I heard about your injury, I swear… I was immediately surfing all of the dirt sheet sites on the internet, as well as browsing You Tube for video clips. I finally saw it on go figure, I guess. As I watched it, I cringed; it certainly looked painful._

_Every fiber in my body was ready to pack up my stuff and fly out the next day, but I quickly came to my senses and realized that you're taken care of. You've got John taking care of you and I'm more than confident that he's quite capable of doing so. I guess my favorite McMahon no longer needs me, huh?_

_Anyway, Dani, Simone, and I wish you all the best and we can't wait to see you soon. Your dad tells me you'll be in Tampa in a few months, so when you get down there, give me a call. Maybe we'll have dinner or something. Miami isn't THAT far._

_Get well soon, Jess._

_Love always,_

_Dwayne

* * *

_

Jessica smiled and laughed to herself, "He's still got it."

* * *

_Jess,_

_Hope your surgery went well and that you're feeling okay at the moment. We can't wait to see you… Smackdown comes to Boston in another three weeks and you can bet that we will be at your house right after the show!_

_All our love,  
Dave, Angie, Keilani, Athena, and Jacob

* * *

_

"That was your sister," John announced, walking back into the room.

"Oh God," Jessica bumped her head backwards into the headboard. "What did you tell her?"

John made his way around the bed and gently eased onto the bed beside her, kicking off his shoes.

"The truth…" he trailed off, folding his hands behind his head and laying back against the headboard. "You're sleeping."

"God, I love you," she smiled and turned towards him.

"Now, I know that God made painkillers and all, but I think I've earned some love too…"

"Oh shut up," she smacked him playfully on the arm. "You know that I'd be lost without you, right?"

"You wouldn't be lost…"

"Yeah," she nodded, "I would. I'd have fallen apart by now, John."

"Me… the strong one in the relationship," John shook his head. "Who in the world would ever believe that?"

Jessica's lips began to curl upwards again and she leaned in towards John, lightly pressing her lips to his.

"Me."

* * *

"Still, Randy," Jessica addressed her friend, holding her cell phone before her in her right hand, "It was way too much."

"No, you deserved it," Randy assured her, his voice crackling over the speaker, "… and I have no woman in my life to shower with gifts."

"That's my boy!" John boasted, cruising down the street.

Jessica ran her tongue over her teeth and pursed her lips, "I hope that _'your _boy' will give you a place to stay when _'your _girl' kicks you out of _her_ house."

"Uh…" he trailed off, stopping at a traffic light on a city block. "Orton?"

"Well, that's my cue," Randy announced, ignoring John's question, "I'm going to get going and head to the arena. Take care of yourself, okay, Jess?"

"I will," she answered with a smile, knowing that even though he couldn't see it, he could sense it. "And once again, thank you for the flowers… and the balloons…"

"And the chocolate!" John added enthusiastically.

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows and slowly reared her head towards him.

"What?" he glanced at her and then back at the road again.

"You're joking me, right?"

"What?' he repeated again. "It was Godiva. It's good chocolate!"

"Honestly, Cena," she covered her face with her hands and shook her head, "You wear wristbands to the ring, pride yourself on a spinner belt with DIAMONDS, and sometimes oil yourself up with baby oil before you go to the ring. And I don't know if you've noticed lately, but wrestling men in spandex shorts and Speedos isn't exactly the most masculine thing in the world…"

"Once again," Randy interred, "LEAVING!"

"Oh, right… bye, Orton!" she answered him brightly and disconnected the call. "I swear, sometimes I ask myself why I never wound up dating him instead of you…"

"Because he's got the mental capacity of a jellyfish?" John offered.

"Really?" she tapped her chin. "I always thought that was you. Hmm… go figure."

John couldn't help but crack a smile, but he bit his lip in an attempt to hide it.

He finally burst out laughing, "Touché."

"Why thank you," she chuckled along with him. "But honestly, John… a jellyfish?"

He shrugged as he pulled into the parking lot of the Sports Medicine Institute building, "It was the first thing I could think of."

* * *

As John helped Jessica hobble inside, he couldn't help but look around at the décor of the waiting room.

Each wall was either a pine green, rust red, or a royal blue color and the chairs were all a shade of burgundy.

Entering the quiet room, Jessica leaned towards him and whispered, "Do you think this was intentional… or they just couldn't make up their minds?"

John laughed and motioned for her to sit down, "I'll go to the desk. You just chill here."

Jessica nodded and watched as he walked towards the front desk, stopping as the second person in line.

"Next," the woman at the desk called out to no one in particular, even though he was the only one left in line.

"Hi, I'm checking in for my girlfriend. She has an appointment for one 'o clock," he replied politely.

"Name?" she replied, blowing a bubble and then popping it.

"Jessica McMahon."

"Therapist?" she asked dryly.

"Meredith… but not the one that wrote that song about being a bitch," he answered jokingly, but the woman with short, black hair and deep cocoa skin was not amused. "You know, that'd probably be a bad person to have as your therapist…"

"Take a seat, sir," she ordered him, nonplussed by his attempt at humor.

"Right then," he took a deep breath and turned around.

As John approached Jessica and sat down, she continued to flip through an issue of Cosmo.

"Not amused huh?" she asked him, her eyes still locked in on an article.

"Not at all," his eyes bulged slightly and he shook his head.

"I told you in the car that one wouldn't work…"

"I know, I know…"

* * *

"Jessica McMahon?" a light, feminine voice called out from across the room.

Both John and Jessica turned in the direction of the voice.

The woman at the open maple door stood about 5'7" tall, with porcelain skin. Her chestnut hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, which matched her brown slacks and cream-colored sweater.

She reached for her glasses with a non-manicured hand and gazed at the chart in her hands.

"Jessica McMahon?" she repeated, looking out into the waiting room.

"That's me," Jessica called to her, grabbing her aluminum crutches from its resting place beside her.

As she stood up, John grabbed her forearm and she pushed on him for support.

"Hi," Meredith smiled warmly at her as she approached. "It's nice to meet you, Jessica," she extended her hand.

"Thank you," Jessica propped a crutch under her arm and shook her hand, "It's nice to meet you too."

"If you can follow me inside, I'll hold the door…" she added, pushing on the maple.

As the trio walked into the hall, they walked towards the end of the weights rack and made a sharp right. Almost immediately, the narrow corridor opened up into a large room with 10 padded therapy tables on the left. On the right side were a variety of different machines, some of which were currently in use.

"Alright, Jessica," Meredith smiled at her as they stopped at one of the beds facing the back wall. "I'm going to lower the bed and you can just sit right down on it, I'll help you get your leg up."

"Okay," Jessica agreed as she watched the bed move closer to the ground and later winced as Meredith helped lift her leg onto the table.

"How you doing, Jessica?" her therapist asked.

"Alright, I guess… not really sure how this would feel without the painkillers," she admitted.

"It would suck," Meredith laughed. "Today, we're going to start you off slow with just a basic routine. I'm going to teach you home exercises and get you set up with that. BUT, first off, we're going to take off that brace and unwrap your knee and take a look. Sound good to you?"

"I guess."

"Okay. Let's get started then… brace first," she informed her patient and began to unfasten the six buckles on her knee.

Gingerly, she slid the brace out from under her knee and placed it back down on the table.

Right after, she turned around and came face to face with John.

"Do you think you can hold onto this for a little while…?" Meredith asked him, holding the brace out to him.

"John," he replied and took the brace from her grasp, "No problem."

"Alright," Meredith turned back to the young woman on the table. "We're going to take a look at that knee now, okay?"

"Okay."

"I just want to warn you, though… it's going to look discolored and it's not going to be pretty. If you need the trash can, I'll keep it right next to you, on your right."

Jessica laughed, "Let me tell you something… I've seen broken necks, fractured spines, and torn ligaments in arms, legs, and knees after surgery. I think I can take it."

"Okay," Meredith answered in a sing-song voice. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."

But as the skilled therapist unwrapped her knee, Jessica was not even close to prepared for what she saw.

Her leg was almost completely yellow, from her toes to her upper thigh, except for the bruising. Parts of her leg were dark blue, others were purple, some were a deep yellow, there was red, and there was even a trace of green.

If that wasn't bad enough, the tightness of the ace bandage, which had not been removed in the past week since her surgery, had left ridges in her skin, indents in her leg that made it appear as though her entire limb's surface was that of a roving hillside in the English countryside.

Then there was the actual incisions, or rather… the three incisions. The first one was about four inches above her knee, a little circle, and the second one was two inches below that, also a circle. Those, as Meredith was explaining, were the drain holes during surgery.

But Jessica really wasn't listening. All that she could do was stare down at her rainbow-colored leg, which oddly enough, reminded her of Jeff Hardy's hair, and fix her gaze on the third incision, about three inches long. It was covered in perpendicular, small white strips and caked in dried blood.

Suddenly, the entire room became a blur of blue, red, and green, as she heard John creeping up on her right side and the hollow sound of his hands clasping metal.

Moments later, her stomach lurched and she buried her face in the garbage can.

So much for being prepared.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in production, us writers are on strike. ;-) Just kidding.**

**As I finished up this chapter, I found myself watching all of RAW for the first time since John got hurt. Honestly, I have to say, best show in a long time.**

**Um… Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy? Are you kidding me? That might be the best tag team… EVER!!! What a match. Jeez. And the DX bit in the beginning? Loved it. Especially the Boogeyman. I missed old-school, Attitude-Era Stone Cold Steve Austin. I was so excited to see the Budweiser truck that I was smiling from ear to ear. **

**BUT… back to She's a Rebel II. I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter… as it brings a few WWE Superstars back into the picture. Not only that, it's giving you a little insight to Jessica's road to recovery, which unlike mine, is NOT going to be easy. Although, I shouldn't say mine is easy, as it isn't, but I'm ahead of schedule.**

**I think the next chapter is going to most likely pick up after John has gone back on the road, but I'm not entirely sure yet.**

**What I can say is that I appreciate the following people:**

**Chain Gang Princess - **Thanks for the well wishes and I am quite proud to say that my future husband and I are both progressing well ahead of schedule, as per Dr. Andrews and Dr. Hosea (my doctor). Hehe. I'm glad you enjoyed this story. I hope you like this one too.

**Goddessofthenite - **I'm glad you liked this one Julz. Oh, PS, when you come home… we're going to be heading to the nearest convenience store to pick up WWE Magazine. Why? "You know who" is on the cover. And 14 days til you come home? Yeah, thought so. And by the way, one of Randy's lines was inspired by you. Guess which one?

**MissPhilippinesSuperStar - **Why thank you!

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf** **- **Thank you for your well wishes… and if you do meet John Cena, which I sincerely hope you do, please tell him I say hello. Although, I know that's incredibly long-off, but a girl can dream. ;-)

**Asher02 - **Glad you enjoyed this chapter and the re-emergence of Jeff Hardy. If you like who shows up in this story, I can't wait for you to begin to read the end of Unravel. But I guess that's a long ways off, now isn't it?

**Adrian Jade** **- **I hope you like this chapter, as well!

**Sammy91 - **I hope you feel the same way about this one! And PT has been going great, thanks!

**This Chick Is KEWL - **I hope you're still wondering and will review again! I enjoyed your comment, as it made me smile on a not-so-pleasant day.

**Thanks for all of your reviews and I hope that for Chapter 5 we can get to 50 reviews, or close to it… because I want to have a chapter to review ratio of 1:10. I think this is how I am going to do my shout-outs from now on. It's fun!**

**ANYWAYS! Feed the feedback monster! And until next time… Word Life!**

**Danielle**


	6. Chapter 6

_The Rebel's Release – 11/2/05_

_Hey, everyone! Happy belated Halloween to you all! I hope all of you kids out there, including some of you adults, had fun trick or treating and got lots of candy in your bags. Make sure you kids have an adult check your candy before you go and eat it, though!_

_I'm so glad that I was home this year for Halloween, as it gave me a taste of my childhood while I watched all the kids in the neighborhood run from house to house, nearly tripping over their costumes, attempting to stuff their sacks with the most candy possible. Although, it is kind of weird to have the children of my former classmates from school ringing my doorbell, but it's amazing to see how much they're like their parents._

_Some of the costumes were absolutely fantastic! My award for best costume actually goes to a group of eight year olds from down the block. They dressed up as characters from board games and looked amazing. There was the Pretty Pretty Princess, Princess Lollie from Candyland, the Monopoly Man, the Operation patient, and even a kid dressed up as a set of Yahtzee dice. It was hysterical!_

_The house looks incredible, though, I must say. I can't really take credit for most of it… only the spider webs over the shrubbery. John's mom really helped out with just about everything. From hammering the signs into the lawn, to hanging ghosts, witches, and skeletons from the trees, to lining the walkway with little pumpkins and gourds, Carol Cena worked her magic on this house. I swear, it's the nicest house on the block by far… not that I'm bragging or anything. wink wink_

_I'm sure that some of you checked up on my blog, looking for an update on my situations. Well, close to three weeks into my rehabilitation process, I'm doing well. Most of the bruising and swelling has gone down and I will have a more extensive update for you next Monday._

_Until then,_

_Jess_

* * *

"_Jessica," the little boy whined. "You're taking forever!"_

"_I'm sorry!" the young blonde yelled back. "It's hard to get into this dress!"_

"_You're wearing a dress?" another boy, slightly older, asked in disgust. "You're such a girl."_

"_And you're such a bonehead," Jessica stuck her tongue out at him as she stood in front of the hallway mirror, her dress being worked on by the older woman behind her._

"_Jessica…" she warned her sternly._

"_Sorry, Grandma," she apologized._

"_Sorry, Grandma," the boy mocked her._

"_Shut up, Steve!" she shot back. "I could still kick your butt in this dress!"_

"_Jessica Juliette McMahon! One more word out of your mouth like that and you will sit at home and watch all of the other children go trick or treating!" Diana scolded her._

"_Sorry, Grandma."

* * *

_

"_Carol?" the inquisitive teenager asked the older woman._

"_Yes?" Carol Cena replied, tucking a strand of her strawberry blonde hair behind her ear._

"_Did you know that you have the slowest kid on the planet as your son?"_

"_Oh please, Jessica," Carol chuckled. "I've known that for years."_

"_Whatcha gonna do…"_

_Jessica winced as she heard footsteps follow the voice down the stairs, "Oh, no. Please… anything but…"_

"_Hulkamania's gonna run wild over you, brother," John boomed towards her, decked out in full Hulk Hogan attire, "Er… sister."_

"_I can't believe you're dressing up for Halloween as Hulk Hogan!" Jessica shook her head at him. "You're thirteen years old, John!"_

"_So?" John shrugged. "Hulk Hogan's thirty seven."_

"_Hulk Hogan wears spandex…" Jessica arched an eyebrow at him._

"_And so do I," John informed her and then pulled away the red and yellow feather boas._

"_Ahh! My eyes! Put it away, put it away!"

* * *

_

"_So where's Liz?" Jessica asked him through the closed door as she paced around the bedroom, looking for her tee shirt. _

"_Why does it always come back to her?" John sighed, leaning his temple on her door._

"_Because… Little Miss Perfect never lets you hang out with me all by yourself. What's the catch, Cena?" she asked him, pulling on her black shirt._

_John exhaled, knowing he was beat, "She's at her sister's college party."_

"_And why aren't you?"_

"_For Christ's sake, Jess," he replied with an annoyed tone, "Is it really that unbelievable that I'd want to spend my last Halloween with my best friend?"_

"_See now that..." Jessica smiled brightly as she pulled open the door and found John dressed as a vampire before her, "I believe."_

_Jessica's normally light blonde hair was now tucked underneath a pretty realistic-looking fire-engine red wig. Dressed as a rock star, she wore a pair of destroyed jeans and a black Nirvana tee-shirt._

"_Wow," the corner of John's lips pulled upwards slightly as he leaned against the wall behind him._

"_What?" she asked him, tugging at the cherry strands of her hair, now subconscious of her black-lined eyes and crimson lips. "Too much?"_

"_No, no..." he assured her. "You look beautiful."_

"_Thanks. Shall we, then?"_

"_Sure."_

_About twenty minutes later, John and Jessica arrived at one of his football buddy's house and parked on the street in John's Jeep._

"_It's hard to believe," John began as he shut his door, "That this is our last Halloween together before, well, you know…"_

"_College, John," Jessica finished for him, as she joined him on his journey to the door, where music was already bursting from. "And don't make it like we're moving to opposite ends of the earth…'cause we're not."_

"_Obviously, Jess," he scoffed at her. "The earth isn't flat. Get with it already, will you?"_

"_Oh, shut up," she laughed at him, playfully smacking his arm._

"_That… I'm not going to miss," he smiled curtly at her. "I do miss trick or treating though."_

"_Come on, seventeen year old," Jessica smiled, "It's time to grow up and move on. I promise… life will get much better."_

"_Even without the scary costumes and the candy?"_

"_Even without the scary costumes and candy," she replied with a chuckle. "How about I get you a bunch of candy on Halloween from now on, to make up for the lack of it on your October 31__st__?"_

"_Deal," he nodded. "Now, let's move onto this better life you speak of…" he added and opened the front door to his teammate's house and walked through the front door after Jessica._

_Jessica and John looked around the house. While there were skeletons hanging from the ceiling and spider webs stretched across the railing of the stairs, their attention was drawn to one thing in the corner of the room and one thing only: the table of kegs._

"_Oh yeah," John agreed with an enthusiastic nod, "Much better."

* * *

_

"Cena, you coming?" a voice called to him from the door.

"Hmm?" John looked up from his laptop at the man in the door way. "Sorry, Orton, I wasn't listening."

"I can tell," Randy shook his head. "You really miss her, huh?"

"Well, yeah," he replied. "Don't you miss your family while you're out on the road?"

"I do," the younger man admitted, his green eyes flitting to the floor for a moment, "But I'm used to it. I'm used to not seeing my dad for weeks, sometimes months as a time and now that I'm older, I'm kind of used to not seeing my mom, Becky, and Nathan, too. And honestly, I think there's a huge chunk of me that absolutely hates that, but I'm well beyond the point of being able to change that part of me anymore."

"I guess I'll get that way someday too," John shrugged shutting the screen of the laptop with his right hand, "But I'm just not used to being without her right now."

"I get it, John… I really do," Randy assured him. "And while you might get that way with your friends and sometimes even your family, with Jess, it's not going to happen."

"And why is that?"

"Because, you're united by a part of your life," he replied, sitting down on the edge of John's bed to face him. "Wrestling… the road, it's everything to the BOTH of you… and unless you get injured, you'll be with each other all of the time."

"But what about if we get married?"

"You'll still be on the road… Torrie and Billy anyone?"

"And what about if we have kids?" John challenged him yet again. "We can't keep the kids from having normal lives, can we? And knowing her, she'll want to stay home once they hit a certain age? And what will we do then?"

A smirk crossed Randy Orton's face as he looked over at his close friend, "I thought you never wanted to have kids?"

"Well," John smiled for a moment, "I don't want to have kids now, exactly, but somewhere down the road… maybe."

"Cena," Orton shook his head, "No matter who you marry, no matter how many kids you have… you're still going to face the same problem. Face it, John, wrestling is just as big of a part of your life as it is mine… and those kids, if their your's and Jess's, they're going to have wrestling in their blood, more so than mine ever will."

"Yeah," John rubbed a hand over his head as a thin smile spread across his lips, "But still…"

"But NOTHING," Randy rolled his eyes at him. "You're missing the point here, John. You two have come so far to get to this point and it makes absolutely ZERO sense to worry about the future… because if you do, it deprives you of the present."

John let out a chuckle, "When did you get so smart?"

"_Orton, what's wrong?"_

"_What?" Randy looked up from his cell phone and shook his head, "Nothing, nothing."_

_Jessica nodded and sat down in a metal chair beside him, "Mind if I see?"_

_Randy shrugged his shoulders and handed the older woman the phone._

_She looked down at the flip phone and saw a picture of Bob, Elaine, Rebecca, and Nathan Orton, holding a "Merry Christmas, Randy" banner and smiled._

"_You miss them, huh, kid?" she asked him._

"_Yeah..." Randy nodded. "I was just getting used to having my dad around and then I'm the one that up and leaves."_

"_You can't put that kind of blame on yourself," Jessica shook her head at him. "It's not your fault, you're twenty-two years old. You were going to have to fly from the nest sometime…"_

"_I know," Randy sighed, "I'm just not used to it yet. If I'm going to be on the road like this all the time, I'll never get to see them, even on the important days…"_

"_Whoa, slow down there, killer," Jessica halted him. "I know it's hard to get used to. I was lucky… I mean, I got to come on the road with my family, but what most people don't realize is that I had a whole family back home in West Newbury. I had a grandmother, a best friend…" she added, standing up from her chair._

"_A best friend?" Randy asked her, rising from his chair and slinging his duffel bag over his shoulder._

"_Yeah," she answered simply._

"_How come you've never mentioned him before?" he asked curiously as they walked to the door of the now-empty locker room._

"_That's a long story for another time…" Jessica informed him with a slight smile on her lips, "But listen to me, Randy," she stopped and faced him, placing both of her hands on his shoulders and locking her hazel orbs onto his emerald ones, "I don't care what your last name is… you've worked your ass off to get here. The important thing to remember is that this is your dream and this is the life you know you were born to live, so don't take it for granted. I've seen too many wrestlers roll through here and self-destruct because they let their anxieties get the best of them. Don't you see, Randy? It makes absolutely ZERO sense to worry about the future because if you do…well… it deprives you of the present."_

Randy shrugged and got up from the bed, "I don't know. Look, I'm going out for a few drinks with Hennigan and some of the other guys… you coming?"

"Nah," John shook him off. "Thanks though, man. Tonight's just not the best night to get plastered…"

"Well, alright," Randy replied, "If you say so. I'll see you in the morning."

"Hopefully," John added as his friend headed for the door.

"Right," the younger man laughed. "Night, John…"

"Goodnight, Orton," John replied and watched as his friend shut the dark maple door behind him.

Sometimes it amazed John how much Randy Orton had grown since they'd first met in Ohio Valley Wrestling. He had started out as this cocky kid, convinced that he would become the best before he even started. When he became noticed as a top-tier worker down there, the women flocked to him.

But after being separated for nearly two years on the main rosters of Smackdown and RAW after call-ups, Randy Orton was a different person. He didn't know whether it was the suspensions that had done it or maybe even an older wrestler that had taken the young gun under his wing, but everyone knew it… and they more than approved.

_Let's go… if you want it, you can get it… let me know._

John sifted through the items in his pockets, searching out for his cell phone. Finally, he found his phone and hit the green button before he brought it to his ear.

"Hey, Mom," he smiled. "What's up?"

"Hi, J—n," the reply from the other end came.

"Mom?" he asked, a quizzical look crossing his face. "Mom, you're breaking up."

"I-I'm s—ry," Carol apologized, static interrupting her periodically. "I'm go--- to –ve."

"Okay," John replied and waited until she spoke again.

"I'm sorry, John," she apologized again, her voice now clear. "There's horrible reception here."

"Where exactly _is_ here?"

"I'm in the city…" Carol trailed off.

"Mom," he addressed her, his voice now full of concern. "Why are you in Boston?"

"John," Carol's voice dropped to a whisper, "It's Jessica."

* * *

Randy adjusted the collar of his black button down shirt one last time as he exited his hotel room. If he was going to go out, whether it was with the guys or not, he was going to look good.

Luckily, his room was only a few doors down from the elevator and even luckier, it was right next to a table and mirror.

He pushed the down button, planning on meeting the boys down in the lobby, and decided to look in the mirror while he was waiting. Shortly thereafter, a bell rang out from beside him, announcing the arrival of the elevator.

Randy tore himself away from the mirror and entered the elevator, where a blonde woman with piercing blue eyes, standing about five feet, eight inches tall smiled at him.

"Hi," the girl greeted him, her turquoise eyes sparkling.

"Hey," Randy replied coolly and entered the elevator. "Going down?"

"Considering we're on the top floor, I should certainly hope so," she retorted sassily. "This isn't exactly Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory."

"Orton!" a voice called from down the hallway, but Randy chose to ignore it.

"Well, this might not be a chocolate factory, but…" he looked her up and down, "There is something sweet in this elevator."

"Orton!" the voice repeated.

"Should we hold the door?" the girl asked him.

"Nah," Randy waved her off. "It's fine… now where were we?"

But before they could continue, a muscular arm stopped the doors from closing shut and they re-opened again, revealing the man behind the voice.

"John?" Randy furrowed his eyebrows. "You alright, man?"

"Get out of the elevator NOW," John ordered him.

"What? Why?" Randy asked him, slightly irritated that his conversation would be irritated.

"We're flying to Boston. TONIGHT," he stated firmly. "Now get out of the elevator."

Randy turned to his right and looked longingly at the blonde woman, "I'm sorry… I have to go."

"It's alright. See you around," she smiled at him.

"Yeah, around," he repeated after her and left, turning around to watch the doors close, permanently erasing her from view.

"Earth to Randy," John called to him, waving his hand in front of his face.

"What?" Randy snapped back at him. "You just completely ruined my chances with that hot blonde and now you want to tell me "You can't see me?" Please tell me that you're not going to attempt to do the Five Knuckle Shuffle now in the middle of the hallway."

"No," the blue-eyed man retorted impatiently, "I'm going to attempt to get two tickets for a flight out of Anaheim to Boston as soon as possible. And you're going to attempt to re-pack."

"Wait… we're going to Boston?" he asked him out of confusion. "Why?"

John rubbed a hand over his face and sighed, "You know what's in Boston."

"I know _who_ is in Boston…" Randy began to answer but then stopped mid-sentence, realizing exactly what John was talking about. "Oh my God."

* * *

**A/N: Dun dun dun! Cliffhanger time!**

**Well, after a little over a week, here is the latest installment of Unravel and it comes after a week of a lot of inspiration.**

**A lot of Jessica's experience in the next few chapters is going to be following the events which have taken place during my recovery and some of them aren't going to be fun, but they're very real.**

**I assure you that I am FINE, but it wasn't easy getting there.**

**Any way, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and that you REVIEW! The number of reviews that I have been receiving so far have been tapering off and that makes me sad. I was so sad, I didn't want to write for a few days… and that, I'm sure made you guys sad. Let's not be sad… let's be happy! So review!**

**To my loyal reviewers:**

**This Chick is KEWL**** – **I'm so glad that you're enjoying this story and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, as well.

**Goddessofthenite** **–** You were right. And suddenly, we're down to three.

**Adrian Jade** **– **I rocked? Sweet.

**Dj-ssdd**** – **I'm glad you liked the re-appearance of Jeff Hardy. In the next few chapters or so, you'll see another person make a re-appearance. It'll be interesting.

**Chain Gang Princess**–I'm so glad to hear that you share my sense of humor! This one has a couple of doozies in it, as well, so I hope you like them. I hope they made your day once again!

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf**** –** I'm glad you liked my last update because I liked your update on Rehabilitation. I LOVE that story. :-P And let me tell you something, Julia (goddessofthenite) will vouch for me, my leg looked EXACTLY like that. It's a good thing that I had seen my knee look like that once before, when I was fourteen after the same surgery on my right knee, or I would have needed a garbage can. And as for Randy getting a woman in his life, elevator chick was a possibility… but alas, Boston calls. But not for long. Hint hint

**Broken.Baby.Gyrl**** – **I'm glad that I'm raising the bar on "The Other McMahon" stories. As my dear friend, Julia, will tell you, I've done all of my homework on John, with pleasure, and researched heavily into the history of the McMahon family. The only mistake I ever made was the name of Vince Sr.'s second wife, which turned up in the documentary "Lipstick and Dynamite, Piss and Vinegar" about women's wrestling and was mentioned by the late, great Fabulous Moolah. Unfortunately, it's too late for that, but luckily, it's not major enough to affect my story. I'm glad that my hard work is evident in this story and that readers, such as yourself, appreciate it. THAT makes me smile more than anything else.

**Sammy91**** – **I'm so happy you liked the last chapter and that you like the little flashbacks that reflect on aspects of Jessica's life that haven't been touched on before. On that basis, I confidently say that this chapter should be to your liking. As for the Rock… he'll be making a return soon… and play a larger part in the story later on.

**I can't wait until the end of this story… some of you will hit the ceiling!**

**Anyway, please review… it's that little button at the bottom of the page… and it's easy to do!**

**Until next time, get well Mr. Cena… and rock on, everyone!**

**Danielle **


	7. Chapter 7

"What do you mean there aren't any more tickets available for the next two days?" John asked angrily, slamming his hands down on the counter.

"I'm sorry, sir," the older blonde woman pursed her lips at him. "You can check with Delta Air, but we only have one flight out to Boston today. There are only two airlines with nonstop flights to Boston everyday and our flight left two hours ago. Our two flights scheduled for tomorrow are all booked up… maybe you should try Delta. Perhaps, you'll have better luck with them."

John sighed and backed away from the counter, "It already ran out."

"The best I can do is put you on standby for Friday's flight," she replied. "I can put the both of you on standby for the same flight…"

"No," he declined, "We'll be in Tulsa by then. Thanks anyway."

John turned and walked away from the line, heading for where his friend was waiting and watching their luggage by the automatic doors.

"They had nothing," he relayed to Randy. "By the time we can get on standby, we'll be in Oklahoma."

"Oh," Randy nodded as John sat down on the bench, both growing silent.

A few minutes of silence passed before he spoke up again, "So what now?"

"Honestly?" John threw his hands up in the air and shook his head, "I just don't know. I guess… I guess I should call my mother."

"That might be good," Randy agreed. "I'll watch everything, go find reception."

John nodded and walked off silently.

* * *

"You couldn't just get him to shut up for FIVE seconds?"

"Honey," Carol laughed at her son's girlfriend, "I've been trying to shut him up for years."

Without warning, Carol's phone began to ring.

"Sorry, I'll take this out in the hall…" she apologized, heading for the door and flipping open the phone. "Hello?"

"I couldn't find a flight out, Mom," John stated quickly. "I tried Delta AND Jet Blue and there's nothing until Friday. We'll be in Tulsa by then."

"Listen, John…"

"Maybe I should check flights out from Oklahoma…"

"John…"

"Fucking LAX…"

"John Felix Anthony Cena! Just shut up already!" she yelled into his ear.

"M-Mom?" he stammered, caught off guard by his mother's words.

"Listen to me for once, God damnit!" she huffed in frustration. "YOU don't have to fly out here. RANDY doesn't need to fly out here. And as I told Stephanie, Shane, Linda, and Vince, THEY don't have to fly out here either!"

"She's in the hospital, _Mother_."

"Yes, she is… good observation, son," Carol replied, "But she is fine… we thought it was a lot worse than it actually was. It's not a big deal… AT. ALL."

"You made it sound like it was…" he pouted defensively.

"You better not be pouting, young man," she warned him. "Let me remind you that you are twenty eight years old and you make PLENTY of mistakes… and I am equally as entitled to my own. Then again, _I_ didn't throw six years of my life away on some stuck up hussy…"

"Uh… Mom," John tugged at the collar of his shirt, "Not exactly the topic of discussion, here…"

_Three thousand miles away and she can still get under my skin._

"Moot point," Carol waved off the topic, "But anyway… JESSICA. IS. FINE. And you don't need to come out here. You'll be back here in December when you come over with Smackdown. Just take it easy out there and don't worry so much…"

"But I'm her boyfriend…"

"And I'm your mother… and her acting mother," she countered, "Allow me to do the worrying for you, okay?"

"Well…" John wavered, "Alright. I'll see if we can get a flight out to Tulsa tonight… while we're here anyway."

"Good thinking," she replied brightly. "Jessica is doing fine and the doctors are going to be running a few more tests, but they say she should be out in the next twenty-four hours. In the meantime, you figure out your flight schedule. I'll call you in the morning."

"Sure," he nodded, even though she couldn't see him, "Goodnight, Mom. Tell Jessica I love her and I'll see her soon."

"Goodbye, John."

* * *

"So tell me how we wound up in Tulsa again?" Randy asked him, pulling his suitcase behind him as they walked along the deserted walkways of the Oklahoman airport.

"You know," John rolled his eyes, "It's days like these where I can't help but notice how much younger than me you are."

"But it's only three years…" he interjected.

"See," John laughed, "There it is again."

"I don't like you…" his friend protested.

"And again."

"Stop it!" Randy whined.

"And again…"

"I hate you!" he yelled at him, beginning to walk at a much faster pace.

"And… again."

* * *

"Good morning, Jessica," a man's voice greeted her as she answered her cell phone. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better, Mr. Davis," she assured him, pushing herself up to a sitting position on the bed.

"Glad to hear… I heard you had a bit of a scare a couple of days back."

"Oh, my father told you?" she asked.

"Please, Jessica…" Clive laughed. "Just because your father and I are men of power, doesn't mean we have coffee at The Ivy every Monday morning."

"I know that," she chuckled, slightly embarrassed. "Then how _did_ you hear?"

"Wrestling fans aren't the only ones who read your blog…"

"You read my b-"

"Yep," he replied. "And you have a way with words, my dear. That's probably why we signed you in the first place and speaking of, I wanted to know if you think you're ready to have your first recording session?"

"Well," Jessica paused for a moment, "Truth be told… I can walk without my crutches and enjoy doing so around my house, but don't tell Dr. Andrews that," she laughed. "I'd like to come in as soon as possible, actually."

"How about two this afternoon?" he offered.

Jessica glanced over at her clock.

_10:30 am._

"Sure," she replied brightly. "Where do I go, though? You don't have an office in Boston, do you?"

"No…" he answered, "But recording studios do exist. There's an exceptional one at your alma mater, I believe… we like to use it every now and then, with our own producers. Surely, you're familiar with it…"

Jessica smiled brightly to herself, "Absolutely. I'll meet them at two."

"Excellent," Clive concluded. "I'll alert your producers. Good luck!"

"Thank you, sir. Goodbye," she stated and then pressed the end button on her cell phone.

For a few moments, she just sat in bed and smiled brightly.

This was the moment she had been waiting for since she was just an average college student at Boston College, playing coffee houses for the hell of it.

Yes, she had always planned on entering the family business… but the other passion in her life called for her attention every now and then.

Finally, she'd be able to answer the call.

* * *

John's eyes pried open as the sun shot through the small space between the curtains, forcing them to close again.

He let out a groan and rolled over to his left side, cracking a lid open just enough to make out the time on the nightstand's digital clock.

_10:00 am._

"Orton?" he called out to his friend, his voice still groggy from lack of sleep. "You up, man?"

"No," Randy replied, slightly annoyed, "I just like to talk like I'm awake when I'm out cold."

"Asshole," John mumbled.

"I heard that, buddy," Orton answered him, flinging a pillow across the room and hitting John in the head.

"A pillow, Randy?" the older man grabbed the pillow from his face and shot upright. "Are you fucking kidding me? What are you… five?"

"Hey!" he protested. "I am NOT the one that decided to fly out to Oklahoma for the hell of it when we didn't need to be here for another TWO DAYS!"

"Think of it this way… we have two more days of sleeping in…"

Randy glanced at the clock to his right and scoffed.

"Ten a.m. is not sleeping in. Ten _p.m._ is sleeping in," he informed him matter-of-factly.

"Ten p.m. is a fucking coma, Orton."

"You're a fucking coma, Cena."

"Oooh," John rolled his eyes. "Burned."

* * *

Jessica stood at the curb and looked out across the street, taking notice of the thick black lettering over the front door of the building.

_855._

The chilly Boston wind nipped at her warm skin and she pulled her black pea coat tighter around her body, her black gloves gripping the edges of the wool fabric. As it continued to blow, she pushed her black knit hat down on her head, hoping it would prevent her blonde waves from straying any further from her face than it already was.

With no cars in sight, she crossed the street and found herself crossing the courtyard of 855 Commonwealth Avenue, the fallen leaves crunching beneath her feet as she passed over the grass.

She could remember the days when she'd pass through the lush grass of the avenue and see study groups and football games on the lawn. Sometimes, she actually missed the days when her responsibility was just to learn and she hadn't been thrust into the real world, the days when her grandmother was still around.

That was really what Boston College reminded her most about and it was what made her a little hesitant to return.

She was finally there, back in a place she once called home. Granted, the producers she had once worked with had long-since graduated, but the overall atmosphere still lingered in the halls.

* * *

**To: JCSoxFan423**

**From: RockerChick44**

**Re: Studio Time**

Guess who got to record in the studio today? Me! Me! Me! Me!

It was so exciting, John! My producer, Spike, is a really cool guy. He's worked with people like Janet Jackson and Gwen Stefani and bands like Maroon 5, No Doubt, and Linkin Park. All that talent and brainpower just for little 'ol me!

I wish you could be there and see it, though. I'm sure it's a little different than Chaos's studio. Hehe.

I can't wait until you come up to Springfield for the Smackdown taping in December. It feels like it's years and years away. By the time you come home, I'll be off crutches for two weeks! Two weeks!

I just wanted to give you a little update, since I know that phone time is few and far between. I love you and miss you and I'll talk to you soon!

Jessica

PS: Don't give Randy too hard of a time. I know he's a terrible roommate, but he tries. He really does.

* * *

**From: SHardcastle**

**To: RockerChick44**

**Re: Bummer**

John told me about the infection and that sucks, but it's good to hear you're out of the hospital and being treated. Are you walking around and defying doctor's orders yet?

Adam

* * *

**To: SHardcastle**

**From: RockerChick44**

**Re: (No subject)**

Maybe.

* * *

**To: CanadianBlondeshell**

**From: RockerChick44**

**Re: (No Subject)**

Hey, girl! How you doing?

I feel like, for some reason, I haven't talked to you in forever. I miss hanging out with you and making fun of John. It was so much fun…

Are you coming to visit me soon? I hear you have a signing in Boston in a few weeks…

Jess

* * *

**To: RockerChick44**

**From: LtCena79**

**Re: You need…**

… to let my poor brother go to Vegas, where prostitution is legal.

Dan

* * *

**To: LtCena79**

**From: RockerChick44**

**Re: Hey, Dan…**

Fuck you.

Love,

Jess

* * *

**From: SHardcastle**

**To: RockerChick44**

**Re: Re: Re: Bummer.**

You rebel.

To: RockerChick44

* * *

**From: JCSoxFan423**

**Re: Whoa.**

That is pretty sweet, Jess. I just don't want you to get your hopes up too high. I had my hopes up pretty high for my album and if it weren't for the fans of the WWE, it would have tanked. I just don't want you to get hurt. Honestly, you have the odds stacked against you… the world doesn't want to take a wrestler seriously… ever.

But I'm sure you'll make a great record and all of your fans will buy your album. I want to hear the first material you record ASAP!!!

I love you. Miss you, Jess.

John

* * *

**From: RockerChick44**

**To: JCSoxFan44**

**Re: Re: Whoa.**

Believe me, I know that… and I'm not getting my hopes up for much. I just want my fans to enjoy my record. I have no delusions about becoming an international sensation, John… I just want to make good music.

And you will hear my first song… ASAP. It's going to kick ass… although I'm not sure which one I'm going to record.

Love,

Jess

* * *

Jessica walked around the downstairs of the house, cradling the phone against her ear with her shoulder, and tidied up as she waited for Carol to come back from the grocery store in town.

About a half hour after Carol left, the phones began to ring throughout the house, signaling a call was coming in. After picking up the cordless from the kitchen, she discovered it was Steve's wife, Jamie.

"Question…" Jessica asked her boyfriend's sister-in-law, plopping down on a sofa, "What's going on for the holidays?"

"That's a really good question," Jamie admitted, trailing her two-year-old daughter, Amanda, down the downstairs hallway. "Amanda Marie Cena! You get back here right now!"

Jessica laughed, "I think the better question is where are we going to hold it?"

"Yeah, right," the elder woman added, "Are you going to be joining us this year?"

"Yeah," she replied, shuddering at the idea of having to be in a confined space with her sister, even if it did happen to be in a large mansion. No matter where they went, Stephanie would always find her. "I'll be around."

"You're not going to your parents?"

"With my sister?!?" Jessica scoffed at her, as though she could sense a second head on Jamie's body. "Um… have your kids made you lose your mind?"

"Samantha Michelle Cena!" Jamie bellowed in Jessica's ear. "Stop throwing blocks at your brother!" A visible sigh could be hear over the phone, "Not yet."

"Let me ask you a question," Jessica shook her head and crossed her legs over an arm of the couch, "And I want you to answer me honestly."

"Um…" Jamie trailed off warily, pouring herself a glass of water at the kitchen table. "Okay."

"Was the all the sex really worth having four kids?" she tilted her head to the side.

Jamie spat the water straight out of her mouth and it rained all over the table, "Excuse me!"

Her older son, Aaron, giggled playfully from the family room, "Mommy made elephant!"

"Yes, sweetie," his mother smiled faintly, "And Auntie Jessie is being silly," she added, picking herself up from the chair and walking down the hallway, to the end of the hallway. She cradled the phone and cupped her hand over the receiver. "Just for the record, it only takes two times to conceive a set of triplets and another child. TWO, okay?"

Jessica couldn't help but laugh, "Okay. Fair enough."

* * *

"Jess!" Carol called up the stairs to her son's girlfriend.

"Yeah?"

"You left your cell phone down here… and you have a phone call."

"Coming…" she answered back, as the door opened audibly.

Carol Cena smiled as she waited at the bottom of the steps for the young woman, tapping her foot as she leaned on the railing.

She had stood in this exact position, calling up to her sons on the floor above in her old home. After five sons, she and her husband had stopped trying for a girl and just given up.

This time, she hadn't actually given birth to a daughter, but was living vicariously through Jessica. As she watched the blonde race down the stairs, she couldn't help but feel as though she'd been taken back ten years in time and was watching her bound down the staircase.

"Phone call," Carol chuckled and handed Jessica the phone, shaking her head as she walked back into the kitchen.

"Hello?" she answered it.

"Heyyyy!" the female voice greeted her brightly.

_Fuck. No. Shit. Damn. It can't be… _

"Hey, Steph," Jessica addressed her sister dryly. "What's up?"

"Well, no… not much, but uh…" she stammered. "I need to talk to you."

"Are you okay?" she asked her, cocking her head to the side.

"Oh, me? I'm fine."

_What about Mom?_

"Is Mom okay?"

"Yes," the elder sister replied.

_Oh my God, it's Dad!_

"And Dad?"

"Yep."

_Shane?_

"And Shane?"

"Yes."

_Oh no, Mariss!_

"And Mariss?"

"Fine."

_Christ, it's Paul!_

"And Paul?"

"YES!" Steph groaned.

_So what…_

"Then what's wr-"

"I'm pregnant!" Steph blurted out.

_Shit. Wasn't expecting that.

* * *

_

**A/N: Sorry this took so long and I know it's a bit fluffy at parts, but I like this one. It's starting a few processes of events.**

**1. Jessica's upcoming record.**

**2. Christmastime with the Cenas.**

**3. Stephanie's baby and Jessica becoming an aunt again.**

**4. John's homecoming.**

**5. Jessica getting bitten by the wrestling bug again… which has good and bad results.**

**And those are just a few events that are bound to occur soon. **

**And as for me, I'm doing well, as always, thank goodness. I should have my crutches taken away on Monday after school! YAY!!!!!!**

**And secondly, I asked my crush to prom and he said yes! WOOOOO HOOOO! That's probably why this chapter was happier at the end. It'll go darker soon enough, calm down, homies.**

**Shout outs:**

**Cena 07**- And now you know:-)

**Goddessofthenite-** I'm glad you enjoyed. Seriously, though… I called you to tell you what happened when I asked him… it's not my fault you IM me and text me when I'm sleeping!

**Adrian Jade-** Ding ding ding! We have a winner… Mass General was the answer. Hope you enjoyed this one too!

**Sammy91-** Because I'm evil.

**Chain Gang Princess - **Oh yes, I did.

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf-** The reason you couldn't think of it is because it wasn't a _who_ is was a _where_. Good effort, though. And yay for Rehabilitation! And Model Attraction?

**Cassymae -** Thank you! I hope you liked this too!

**Sailormama**- Glad to hear that he's doing well! Send him my regards and give him a hug for me the next time he comes in from Tampa and decides to dabble in the Boston cold.

**Dj-ssdd-** I think the cliffhanger was quite cool. Got you to review, didn't it? Then again, you always review and I like that. Anyway, the only part of last chapter that doesn't matter is the girl in the elevator. I think.

**Miniature-hero-** I'm so happy that you're on board with the story. I hope you continue to enjoy AND REVIEW this story!

**Thanks for those reviews, people! For the record I AM NOW ALLOWING ANONYMOUS REVIEWS! So if you're a lurker who doesn't have a pen name, you can now review. I never realized I disallowed it before, so it has been fixed! Woo hoo!**

**Rock on, rebels!**

**Danielle**


	8. Chapter 8

"You ready for the Total Gym today?" Meredith asked the youngest McMahon, who was zoning out in front of her on the table. "Uh… Earth to Jessica?"

"Hmm?" she shook her head and looked directly at the woman before her. "What'd you say?"

Meredith couldn't help but chuckle, "I asked you if you were ready for the total gym today."

"Oh," she nodded. "Sure."

"Good," her therapist nodded. "Hop off the table and grab a crutch."

"A crutch?" Jessica cocked her head to the side. "As in a singular noun?"

"A crutch," Meredith repeated and grabbed a crutch from beside the table. "Watch me," she instructed her.

The tall brunette kept her right leg straight and leaned on the crutch under her left arm. She then stepped forward with her left black flat, followed by the simultaneous movement of her right flat and the crutch. This same process was repeated another time… and another… and another.

"Okay," she prefaced and thrust the crutch towards Jessica. "Your turn."

She took the crutch as she was instructed and tried to retain her balance. As she took the first step with her left foot, she stumbled slightly.

Meredith caught her by the arm, "It's alright. We'll try it again."

"Nah, it's alright," Jessica waved her comment off. "I'll just stick with the two."

"Try it again," Meredith replied a little more sternly.

"Alright…" she straightened up and tried it again.

With each step of the right foot, she stumbled clumsily along, finding it difficult to maneuver.

"Meredith," she called out in exasperation, finally halting in her tracks. "This is ridiculous. I c-"

"Don't say it," Meredith cut her off sharply. "You say the 'c' word, you give up… you give in. either way, it's all the same. You think that you're unable to do this? That's fine. You think you're too weak? That's okay too. Really, I don't mind either way, but I'll be damned if you're going to quit on me just because you think you can't. So give me a good reason, Jessica. Tell me that you're too weak to stand on your own two feet… tell me you don't care about your career, your future. Look me in the eye and give me a reason, a good reason, and I will walk back to my station and give you that crutch... but be certain, when Dr. Andrews takes them away next week, it will always remain. So go ahead, Jessica… tell me."

Jessica looked Meredith dead in the eye, standing for the first time in the eight or nine weeks since her injury.

"Never," she snarled and pivoted on her left foot, walking down the hallway.

The chestnut brunette adjusted her thickly-rimmed glasses and smirked at the retreating form, "Ata girl."

* * *

After a tough week of physical therapy sessions, Jessica plopped down on the couch. 

While Andrews had taken her off of her crutches, she could only walk around for so long. A half hour… maybe… on a good day.

Today, she had lasted for around fifteen minutes. Not bad… but not great either.

Jessica pried open the laptop and smiled, eager to talk to the fans she had neglected with updates in the last week or so.

Soon, she was typing up a storm.

_The Rebel's Release – December 11, 2005_

_Good news, all! Dr. Andrews took away my crutches! And my stiff and bulky brace! Now, I have officially rejoined the mobile population. Now, I'm free to wear my favorite jeans and not fear that the piece of garbage, formally known as my knee brace, will ripe them to shreds. Wooooo hoooo!_

_I'm sorry that I haven't been updating lately. I've just been swamped with errands and activities in the last week or so. _

_Now that Carol (John's mom) is gone, I'm readjusting to living life on my own. It's rather easy to forget after depending on another human being for nine straight weeks, even though that was difficult to get used to in the first place._

_I'm going to be at the Smackdown taping in Boston on the fifteenth..,. and, no… I will not be onscreen, but I will be around after the show if you want to hang around. I want to chat with a bunch of you loyal fans. I mean, I do miss you guys terribly._

_And well, that's about it for now._

_You guys keep rockin' out for me, okay?_

_Catch ya later, rebels!_

_- Jessica_

After finishing her blog, and sending it to the Superstar Section Editor of the WWE's website, she decided to sign onto her AOL Instant Messenger account.

Almost immediately, a familiar screen name popped onto the screen.

_STLLegend41 has sent you a message. Would you like to accept?_

"Yes," she replied to no one in particular and clicked on the form.

**STLLegend41: **Hey there, McMahon!

**RockerChick44: **Hey, Orton!

**STLLegend41: **What's going on?

**RockerChick44: **Not much, I just got off of the phone with my mother.

**STLLegend41: **That sounds great. What now?

**RockerChick44: **Her mother… my grandmother, Anna, is paying me a visit. Now that Carol's gone back to Merrimac, she thinks I could use the company.

**STLLegend41: **So…? I don't see what's so bad about her.

**RockerChick44:** She's no Diana, Randy.

**STLLegend41: **Come on now, Jess… you said it yourself, her shoes are hard to fill. Diana McMahon was a saint and comparing her to Anna Edwards is just unfair.

**RockerChick44: **She's a blue-blooded priss, Orton. As stuck up and snobby as they come. She was so jealous of my relationship with Grandma Diana while she was alive, that she actually cut me out of her will.

**STLLegend41:** Sounds more like your father to me…

**RockerChick44: **That's what I thought! And honestly, by the time she cut me out of the will, I was around sixteen and it was 1995. I mean, Dad had plenty of money accumulated by then, so it was really meant to just flat out piss me off.

**STLLegend41: **And I thought your sister was a bitch…

**RockerChick44: **Well, now you know where she gets it from. Genetics are an amazing concept, Randy.

**RockerChick44: **And speaking of family, what are you doing for the holidays?

**STLLegend41: **I'm heading home as soon as RAW is over. Why?

**RockerChick44: **I don't know.

**RockerChick44: **I just figured John would like to have a whole slough of family and friend over for Christmas.

**STLLegend41: **Sorry, Jess. Maybe next year.

**STLLegend41: **Then again, I never intend to be in a room with all five Cena brothers at once and their spawn.

**RockerChick44: **LOL. Is John at least behaving?

**STLLegend41: **Yeah… just not to me.

**RockerChick44: **You're such a baby.

**STLLegend41: **You're siding with him, aren't you?

**RockerChick44: **No…

**STLLegend41: **Yes! You are _actually_ siding with him,

**RockerChick44: **No, I'm not. Look, once June rolls around, I'll be back on the road for good. And put it this way, you can change the rooms tonight if it's that bad. I will do it personally.

**STLLegend41: **You will?

**STLLegend41: **Really?

**Rockerchick44: **Yeah, definitely, but... you've got to hold on a second. Phone is a-ringing.

**STLLegend41:** Take your time, dork.

Jessica stood up from the couch and walked into the kitchen, where her cordless phone was ringing. Quickly, she removed her ivory phone from the cradle and brought it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon, darling!" the airy voice greeted her.

_Speak of the devil._

She immediately rolled her eyes, "Hi, Grandma Anna."

"How are you feeling, Jessica?"

"I'm doing well, thank you," she replied with false sincerity. "How are you?"

"Relatively the same…" Anna answered and then paused. "But without the stitches!" she concluded and then let out a haughty laugh, which made her granddaughter want to gag.

"Yes," Jessica took a stab at forced laughter.

"Well, anyway," Anna cleared her throat to signal to the younger woman that the laughter was over, "I just wanted to inform you that I will be arriving on Thursday and will be departing on Wednesday. My flight will arrive at 1:33pm and depart and 9:27am. I expect a car to be waiting for me when I arrive, is that clear?"

_The nerve…_

"Crystal," Jessica replied through gritted teeth as she walked back into the family room. "And while I certainly look forward to your visit, I have a doctor's appointment scheduled in an hour and I certainly do not want to hit that horrid Boston traffic!"

_God, I sound like such an idiot when I talk like this…_

"Oh, quite right," Anna agreed. "Well, give your mother my regards if you speak to her before I do and follow doctor's orders!"

"I will. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Jessica."

_Click._

**RockerChick44: **Back.

**STLLegend41: **Who was it?

**RockerChick44: **Scarily enough, Grandma Anna.

**STLLegend41: **Ooh. How'd it go.

**RockerChick44: **Fan-fucking-tastic.

**STLLegend41: **Now, now… I'm sure Anna would agree that such terminology does not belong in the vocabulary of a proper young woman.

**RockerChick44: **Bite me.

**STLLegend41: **And neither is that.

**RockerChick44: **Well, if you're going to mock me, I am going to leave… I certainly don't need to waste my time with an asshole right now. How's that for good vocabulary? Bye.

**RockerChick44: **Oh and by the way… SUCK IT.

**Rockerchick44 has signed off at 2:33:12pm.

* * *

**

"John, you need to come home," Jessica trailed off as she walked into her bathroom and shut the door behind her, taking extra care to lock it, as well. Bringing the phone to her ear again, she whispered, "Now."

"Anna driving you off the wall?" he asked her, chuckling at her misery.

"It's not funny, John!" she hissed, as to not allow her grandmother to hear her conversation. "The woman is a parasite!"

"She's seventy seven years old. Can't you give her a break?"

"No," she replied bluntly, sitting down on the lid of the toilet seat. "I can't."

"What is she doing that is so bad, Jess?" John asked her, trying not to laugh again.

"Just…" she trailed off, overwhelmed in her attempts to recall the events of the last four days in which her grandmother had been visiting, "Everything."

"Babe, you're going to have to be a liiiitle more specific than that."

"You know what she said when I got to the airport on Tuesday?"

"Not until you tell me."

"She said 'Oh, I didn't expect to see you here. I was expecting a chauffer.' Is she freaking kidding me?!?" Jessica seethed through gritted teeth and ran a hand roughly through her hair. "Then, when we got outside, she took one look at the Saleen, and told me that no woman of her age would be caught dead in that car."

John shook his head. Aside from the Pontiac Sunfire, Jessica's two Saleens were her babies and over the last year, she'd been sinking more and more money into the Black and Satin Silver vehicles. Between a new spoiler, custom interiors, and a few more custom details, the cars had become her pet projects.

"Well, did you take the S-7?"

"Um… I'm sorry," Jessica snorted, "Did my last sentence sound like I said 'I'm on drugs?' Cause quite honestly, I don't think it did. OBVIOUSLY I didn't take the S-7, John! For God's sake, they used it in The Fast and the Furious for a reason!"

"Okay, okay," he answered slowly, "I'm sorry. So I will assume, then, that you took the Mustang?"

"Yes," she replied with a sigh, "I took the S281 SC. I figured that, out of the three cars, that's the most inconspicuous, being black and all. I mean, the Sunfire _is_ purple, after all…"

"So what happened?"

"You're not going to believe this…" Jessica shook her head, still in disbelief.

"What did she do?"

"She called a car service, John," she added and clicked her tongue, "She took a car back to the house and made me wait until it arrived to pick her up."

"Wow. Just… wow."

"Yeah," Jessica sighed again. "And you know what's worse? I'm on the phone, sitting in my own house, in my own bathroom, whispering, so that some stuck up priss from Connecticut doesn't get her feelings hurt."

"I wish I could make her leave, Jess…"

"But," she interrupted him and smiled as she clutched the phone closer to her ear, "You're coming home on Wednesday. She leaves on Thursday. And then I have you to myself for four whole days."

"Baby, wait…" John tried to inter, as a comment was fresh on his tongue,

"It's going to be the first time I've seen you in what? Two months? I'm so excited…"

"Jess, hold on a second," he instructed her. "I need to talk to you first."

"Hmm? What?" she ceased conversation and turned her attention completely towards him.

"JESSICA!" a shrill voice echoed through the house.

"Shit," she mumbled. "That's Anna… I have to go. We'll talk later okay?"

"But…"

"JESSICA!"

"I'm coming!" she sniped back. "Bye, John, I love you."

_Click.

* * *

_

"Hey, Dave?" John asked the older man over the cell phone. "When did you… you know, hear?"

"Early this morning," the half Greek, half Filipino man replied, "Why?"

John didn't speak for a few moments and Dave Batista groaned loudly.

"You didn't tell her… did you?" he asked him knowingly.

"I didn't get the chance. Linda's mother flew in and…" John stopped abruptly and rubbed a hand over his head. "Shit. I should have told her, shouldn't I?"

"Look, Cena," Batista tried his hand at sincerity, "Things like this… they change all of the time. And, it's not for another three days. A lot can change in three days."

"Maybe," he shrugged. "I don't know."

"Well, _I_ know," Dave replied. "I went from being happily married to on the path to divorce in just as much time."

"Let's just hope this doesn't lead to a similar event," he laughed nervously.

"Knowing her, it won't, but let's stay on the positive side of things, okay?" the older man attempted to reassure his friend. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay. Night, Batista."

"Night, Cena."

_Click._

John threw himself backwards onto his bed and landed with a thud onto the mattress. Had he told her, it wouldn't have been as big of a deal. Now, Jessica McMahon had her hopes up and in his heart, John Cena knew that he was going to disappoint her… and he was powerless to stop it.

* * *

**A/N: I'm back again, with your weekly dose of McCena!**

**Hey guys! I hope you like this chapter… it's a nice little cliffie! It'll be an interesting chapter next go-around. I swear.**

**This was my first chapter incorporating IM into the plotline, so I hope that it went well and all of you fabulous readers enjoy it.**

**I have to apologize for not updating in ten days or so. Before I had surgery, or even got injured in the first place, my dad had a knee replacement scheduled. His surgery was on December 4****th****, so I've been trying to help my mom out with my sister and with stuff around the house. I started writing again on the sixth, but unfortunately, Dad ran a fever and I went to the hospital for 6 hours. I did get a little work done on the story on my laptop… and I've been writing it in dribs and drabs in school ever since.**

**The next chapter is going to deal with what John didn't get to tell her, the end of Anna's visit, and the Smackdown taping in Boston.**

**On a little side note, in 2005, RAW took place in Springfield the day before the Smackdown taping. That will be incorporated, as well. I think.**

**And now… for my loyal readers:**

**Chain Gang Princess**** – **I'm glad you liked the chapter… and for the record, Christmas will probably fall in Chapter 10.

**Sailormama ****– **Good to hear he's dedicated to getting better... I most certainly know that feeling. And about the phone number, I certainly didn't think any other way, but if he ever feels compelled to talk to a fan, or a person in a similar situation, although I have no idea why he ever would, do give him my email address. Same as my pen name… AOL.

**goddessofthenite - **I can't wait 'til you come home, girly! I think you'll enjoy this chapter.

**I'm.Totally.Fxcking.Awesome** **– **You're going to get your wish in Chapter 10, but Steph is going to come back into the picture in Chapter 9. For a little while, anyway.

**Adrian Jade** **– **It was a fun conversation to write. Personally, I still love that conversation, but I think the McCena conversation about the cars is equally as funny. On a side note, you can easily see pictures of each car if you look online and search through google images.

**Sammy91**** – **I am glad that the email was funny to you 'cause it was really funny to me. And thanks for the congratulations, I'm really excited!

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf**** – **You updated for me, twice over, and I have updated for you. I hope you enjoy mine as much as I enjoyed yours. Oh and by the way, thank you and thank you.

**JCEdgeRKO ****– **I'm glad that you've found this story and that you've found it interesting. I love gaining more and more loyal readers. Hope you like this chapter too!

**Miniature-hero**** – **I love it when stuff like that happens too!!! I have to admit, though, that scene was probably one of my favorites.

**So this concludes my thank you's, but there is still one new piece of business that I must discuss.**

**If you look on my profile, you can see I have four banners posted. Two for She's a Rebel, one for She's a Rebel II, and one for Partners in Crime. I kind of made the two for SAR in a hurry, so they're not my best, but I like the other two. Definitely let me know what you think if you can.**

**NOW, that being said, if anyone wants a custom banner for their story, whether it's character relationship banners or actual story teaser banners, please PM me. **

******You can refer your friends… I don't mind, it's so much fun!**

**So I think that just about wraps it up for now. Have a great week!**

**Danielle**


	9. Chapter 9

Jessica groaned as the voice filled her head yet again. For some God-forsaken reason, Anna Edwards was still living in _her _house and messing around with _her _things. Had the woman been different for most of Jessica's life, she might have cut her some slack, but the past was set in stone and now, all she had control over was her future.

And Jessica McMahon was going to be damned if Anna was going to ruin it.

"JESSICA!"

The voice was shrill, like that of a banshee screaming in the silent night, erupting through the calm that once rested before.

Perhaps it was the screeching noise only women heard when the sirens called to the sailors on the sea.

It didn't matter to Jessica. Anna was a virus lurking in her house, like they lurked on the web, and the only problem was that no computer security system could rid her of the parasite that was her grandmother.

"JESSICA!"

_Two more days.

* * *

_

In room 315 of the South Carolinian Hilton Hotel, a buzzing noise coming from the nightstand was disturbing the large, bronze-skinned man laying in the bed beside it. In anger and frustration, he cracked open an eye lid to look at the clock.

_7:24am._

This was supposed to be his day off, his day to sleep in. He would be flying out tomorrow, bumped up one day, to make it to Massachusetts on time. Had he been able to take Sunday off, as well, it would not have been as large of a deal that someone was disturbing him.

_7:25am._

The man reached a burly hand out from beneath the blanket and grasped the cell phone off of the nightstand.

"Hello?" he answered groggily.

"I still can't do it…"

"You call me at 7:30 in the morning to tell me you're acting like a little girl?" he shot back angrily.

"Well… no…" the younger man stammered. "I…uh…"

"…will call me back at a more reasonable hour this afternoon," the older man finished for him.

* * *

The burly man growled as his cell phone rang once again.

He glanced over at the clock and this time, it appeared to read a more reasonable hour.

_12:53pm._

He clicked the TV remote, changing its status to mute, and picked up the vibrating rectangle.

"At least this time you decided to contact me at a reasonable hour."

"I'm beginning to think that Randy's time on Smackdown affected you way too much," the younger man retorted, finally able to find words to pour out of his mouth.

The man frowned as leaned back against the oversized headboard by advertisement, undersized by his large frame, "And I'm beginning to think that I don't want to talk to you very much right now, Mr. Cena."

"I'm sorry, Dave," John replied sincerely, "Just hear me out, okay?"

"For the sake of your girlfriend," Dave sighed and cracked his neck, "You've got five minutes."

"What?!? Five minutes isn't nearly…"

"FOUR," Bautista cut him off and clicked his tongue repeatedly. "The clock is ticking, John…"

"Fine," he huffed. "So I don't understand how I should tell her. Do I just flat out say it? Do I butter her up…?"

"Do you _butter_ her up?" the older man shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the searing image. "God, that's gonna take me weeks to get out of my head."

"I'm serious, Bautista!"

"So am I, man…" he shook his head with a chuckle. "So am I."

"I'm just…" he trailed off sadly, "I'm just not good at any of this."

"Of what?"

"You know, boyfriend stuff."

"Cena," Dave addressed him, "You've known Jessica for what? Twenty years now?"

"Yeah…"

"And how did you know how to tell her stuff before?"

"I didn't know… I just did," John took a stab at an answer. "I mean, she was my best friend. I just told her stuff and that was the end of it."

Dave scratched the stubble on his chin, "Let me ask you a question?"

"Sure…" John replied warily. He wasn't sure if he liked where this conversation was going.

"You said she _was_ your best friend. Do you really think that's changed?"

* * *

"Come on, Jess!" her producer, Mike, encouraged her through the plated glass of the sound booth. "You can hit that note. I've heard you do it ten times before!"

"I know that!" she replied defensively, ripping her headphones from her skull and crossing her arms over her chest. "I just never _needed_ to hit it before."

"Well," Mike scratched his head, trying to come up with a way to ease hernerves, "Where did you first write this song?"

* * *

_**It's been too many years since I last saw you,**_

_**And I don't know what to expect the next seventy or more.**_

"_I missed you then, Jessica, and I miss you now," he continued. "I miss being able to look out of my bedroom window, knowing I could look out and see you there if I caught you at the right time. I miss being bored at school and calling you at four in the morning because I knew you'd be working on a term paper. Hell, I miss knowing your phone number."_

"_You know what I miss, John?" she sighed heavily and looked up at him. "I miss knowing the real John Cena."  
_

_**You've given me everything I could have asked for,  
**_

"_Thank you, Jessica Juliette McMahon," John said into her ear. "Thank you for making my life less boring."  
_

_**But I still feel incompletely satisfied.**_

_As much as Jessica was enjoying her new reign as Women's Champion, she couldn't help but allow her thoughts to drift to someone else. _

_In her head, she thought of John. She hadn't wondered about him in a while, not since everything had happened back in 1996._

_Today, though, she wasn't surprised. Wrestling had ultimately brought them together as best friends and Liz had torn them apart._

_She wondered if he was watching when she won or if he had seen Backlash at all. She hoped that if he had, he was proud of what she'd done. More over, she hoped that, if he had, he was proud of what she'd done. She hoped that John had at least seen her, four years older, four years wiser, and four years stronger._

_**I often wondered if your reasons could shed a little light,**_

_**Cause they seem so few and far between.**_

"_Don't," he held up a hand to stop her. "We've gone this route before and we've traveled in circles ever since. I made mistakes, as did you. After nearly ten years of this vicious cycle, I think it's about time we just wiped the slate clean, don't you?"  
_

_**What time it is, clearly isn't and what I understand… **_

_**is not enough to see beyond what I believe.**_

"_But you do!" John exclaimed and squatted down in front of her, rubbing a hand over his spiky brown hair. "I'm still the same person you met sixteen years ago, Jess. I'm just bigger and taller and…"_

"_Stupider," she finished for him sarcastically.  
_

_**Am I so far from you?**_

_I'm now writing to you from the desert in Iraq. From where, I can't say, but not because I don't want to. For our own safety, we have not been told the exact location, but I can at least describe to you what it's like here._

_**This endless game of hide and seek,**_

_Jessica winced as she heard footsteps follow the voice down the stairs, "Oh, no. Please… anything but…"_

"_Hulkamania's gonna run wild over you, brother," John boomed towards her, decked out in full Hulk Hogan attire, "Er… sister."_

_**Depletes what I believe…**_

"_Sorry for what, John?" she challenged him, running her hands through her blonde hair. "Sorry for the year I spent crying myself to sleep every night? Or sorry for the fact that I had to spend my entire summer break at your Dad's house, taking care of your brothers while he was at work, because you were off playing house with your girlfriend? You're going to have to be a little bit more specific than that…"  
_

_**I won't be the one that shows and tells,**_

_**If I give you everything,**_

_**Your world might turn upside down.**_

_She looked up and studied John's azure blue eyes. How could a pair of eyes possibly hide so much behind them and not betray their possessor?_

"_Why didn't you tell me?" she asked him softly, not wanting it to project to the crowd._

_John got the hint and dropped both mics to the ground, adjusting the belt on his shoulder._

"_I was afraid to lose you again, Jess," he replied sincerely, his voice dangerously low, as well._

_**You're so close to me.**_

_Jessica pulled away for a moment, leaning her forehead against John's, as she stared into his azure eyes._

"_You never lost me in the first place," she smiled._

_**Every time you ask to see my face,**_

_**Or hear my voice while…**_

_**Staring into outer space  
**_

_But before I forget, I just wanted to say Merry Christmas. I know we can't spend Christmas together this year, let alone in the same country, but I hope that you're having a good time with the family, wherever you are this morning.  
_

_**Can you feel me?**_

_So this is it, Jessica Juliette McMahon. This is the message this journal has been trying to convey all along, even though I didn't always know it. This is the part where I tell you I can't live without you and that I need you. This is the part where I tell you that twenty years of knowing you has made me a better man. This is me telling you that I love you… always have and always will.  
_

_**Keep looking 'cause I'm not that far from reach.**_

"_Ladies and gentlemen," Lillian Garcia beamed loudly into the microphone, "Your new WWE Champion, John Cena!"_

_Jessica smiled and nodded at the TV as she slung her bag over her shoulder."Good for you, John Cena. Good for you."_

_**You're not that far from me.**_

_I love you, Jess. I miss you.

* * *

_

Jessica smiled to herself, thinking about the long and winding road that had gotten her to this point in time.

She had been shipped off to a town she had barely known, where she was raised by her grandmother. She became best friends with John Cena, the boy next door, and later on, after being inseparable in elementary school, middle school, and high school, drifted apart from him, only to be completely severed away after he chose his girlfriend over his family.

For years, she was convinced that the story of Jessica McMahon and John Cena had long since ended and the only work in progress was the epilogue. However, Diana McMahon's death, combined with a lingering memory from a Wrestlemania past, had allowed the two to reconnect.

"I think the better question, Mike," she nodded to herself in affirmation, "Is where wasn't it written?"

And the truth was that no epilogue to the story was in progress.

Because every great story that you think has ended… has an even better sequel.

* * *

"Hey, baby," Jessica smiled, holding the phone containing her boyfriend's voice to her ear. "How are you?"

"I'm okay, I guess," he admitted sadly. "Listen, Jess… I have to tell you something."

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly, clutching the phone even tighter in her grip.

"I'm fine, I really am… but I don't think I'm going to make it on Tuesday," John replied softly, knowing it upset her just as much as it upset him. "There's a really bad snowstorm here in Oklahoma… so I can't even get a flight out now. I can't get a flight out until Thursday, at the earliest, and neither can anyone else on the Smackdown roster."

"Oh," Jessica's eyes dropped to her knees as she sat in her parked car. "At least I'll have some of the roster around. Maybe a few will come over if they need a place to stay…"

"Listen, Jess," John addressed her softly, "I'll just fly in next week. I mean, think about it. We have Christmas in Iraq taped, right?"

"Right…"

"So I can fly in after next week's RAW and then I won't have to go back until after Christmas. I promise, we're just going to be delayed, sweetheart," he added with a sincere tone to his voice.

She knew he missed her just as much.

"Okay," she smiled. "I can do that."

* * *

After another great session in Boston, Jessica pulled onto the street in which she had lived for over twenty years. It was amazing to her that many of the same families still lived on that very street. In fact, it was almost frightening.

But what frightened her more was the scene that was taking place at her yellow and green house, drenched in the shadow of a bulldozer, tractor, forklift, landscaping trucks, and various other vehicles loaded up with different mechanisms and gadgets.

Jessica's eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she pulled her S7 onto the opposite side of the street and made her best attempt to run across to her property.

"Would someone care to explain to me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" she yelled to the workers, only half of which seemed to speak English.

"Um, Miss," one of the older workers, whose face was clearly worn and tough from his days in the hot sun, addressed her cautiously, "The owner of this house has hired us to do some renovations."

"The owner…" Jessica trailed off, her eyes darting to her right side as she tried to figure out what was going on, when suddenly it dawned on her. "Anna."

"Excuse me, miss?" the man asked her, placing his bucket of spackle down on the ground.

"Have they done any work to your knowledge?" she asked him suddenly.

"Not that I saw…"

"Good," she breathed a sigh of relief. "Tell them to stop."

"Miss," the man laughed nervously, "I have specific orders from the owner of this house to carry out these renovations…"

"Well, I _am_ the owner of this house," she assured him firmly, "And I say that all renovations will cease immediately and I will gladly compensate you for your time here today."

"You're the owner?"

"Yes," she replied. "I am Jessica McMahon, granddaughter of Vincent and Diana McMahon, the original owners of this dwelling, and the inherited owner after their passing."

"Oh, Ms. McMahon, I am so sorry," he apologized. "BOYS!" he called to everyone around him. "PACK IT UP!"

Out of no where, every man on the property began to load back up the trucks, but the damage had already been done.

* * *

After an hour, the grass was almost completely destroyed and the only landscaping that remained in tact was the garden in the backyard and the rose bushes in the front yard.

"The woman inside told us she was the owner. Honestly, we didn't know…"

"It's alright," Jessica waved him off. "I didn't know either."

"WHERE ARE YOU ALL GOING?" a sing-song voice asked from the doorway.

"Ah, Grandma Anna," Jessica seethed at the woman. "They're going home…" she continued, just as the yellow taxi cab pulled up in front of the house. "The same place you're going now."

"Excuse me," she placed a hand on her chest and furrowed her eyebrows at the younger woman. "I _am_ home."

"Yes, you are…" her granddaughter agreed. "You're in _my_ home, where _I_ am the owner. And now _I_ am kicking _you_ out. You have ten minutes to pack your things. The meter's running…"

"How dare you!" Anna yelled at her through gritted teeth as Jessica followed her into the house. "I come here to help take care of you," she continued as she threw all of her clothes into a suitcase from the downstairs guest room, "And you've been incredibly ungrateful the entire time!"

"Take care of me?" Jessica's eyes widened as her voice rose a few decibels. "Take care of me? You call telling me that no one will like me because I'm not a proper lady… because I'm a wrestler… taking care of me? I'll let you in on something, _Anna_," she hissed at the older woman, who was now closing her suitcase. "I have a wonderful family, a great career, and an amazing boyfriend, who has known me for most of my life and loves me for who I am. And guess what? I'm something you've never been your entire life… I'm _happy_. So what if my album bombs? I don't care. I still have the opportunity to do what I love no matter what, whether it's wrestling, singing, or someday acting. It doesn't matter."

"You don't have a career, Jessica," Anna mocked her. "You have a job where you dress like a hoochie and jump around on a gym mat all night."

"Call it what you want, Anna. I don't care. I don't need your approval anymore," Jessica shook her head, her chin elevated. "You came into my house and treated me like I was the guest, like I was below you. You took advantage of my hospitality and insulted my grandmother and my boyfriend. And let me tell you something…" she leaned in closer, so her face was nearing her shorter grandmother, "I didn't have to dress and act like Britney Spears or any other whore to get him," she concluded with a smirk. "Now did I?"

"You've got such a foul mouth on you, missy," Anna retorted, now sporting a smirk of her own. "No wonder your mother and father dumped you in this cesspool of a town. No young woman should _ever_ talk like that…"

"Oh yeah?" Jessica arched an eyebrow and walked past her to the door. "Well then I'm sure you'll like this one, Anna," she added and pulled the door open by its brass doorknob. "Get the fuck out."

* * *

**A/N: Did you like this one? I realllyyy hope you did!**

**I'm starting to get a little despondent because you guys aren't reviewing as much as you used to. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all of your loyal comments, but my goal for this story was to have an average of 10 reviews per chapter and lately, I've only been getting eight. I once only got five.**

**So PLEASE review for every chapter because that encouragement is honestly what keeps me going. I usually have a chapter in the bank within a day or two of the new one and as soon as the number ten is reached in the chapter review total, I release it. Otherwise, I wait a week.**

**I really want to crank these out ASAP! I want to get through SAR II and get to SAR III!**

**Once again, please please please review!**

**And I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know what you think of the girl in the banners… she's pretty much what I envisioned Jessica McMahon looking like. I think she goes really well with John. Do you? Let me know in your review!!!!**

**HOLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!**

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – **I totally would have told her off a long time ago too. How'd you like Jessica's kiss off?

**Chain Gang Princess – **And so it has been told. Is it what you expected?

**GoddessoftheNite – **This was in honor of you coming home today! I hope you like it!

**Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100**** – **YAY! New reviewer! I'm glad there's some familiarity to this story for you. Not too many stories out there involving John Cena and a Danielle… hint hint to all of you writers out there. Hehe.

**JCEdgeRKO – **I'm curious to know what you thought it was. I'm actually VERY curious. I'm glad you liked the screen names. I liked entertaining my friends with them too!

**I'm.Totally.Fxcking.Awesome – **Thanks for the well wishes and I will pass them on to my dad. And no, John would not propose like this… I think Jessica would be really pissed. I mean, I base Jessica a lot off of myself… and _I'd_ be REALLY pissed.

**Inday – **Woo! Another new reviewer! And as you can see, all is well… for now.

**Dj-ssdd – **I did miss your reviews! Believe it or not, I do remember who reviews and the last time they did. I figured life was busy as all hell… I definitely understand that. I'm just glad you're back.

**Miniature-hero – **My rehab is going much better… and they are SERIOUSLY beating me up. I'm doing one-kneed squats on the Total Gym, which for those of you who don't know, is basically like the seated leg press, just in reverse. Hope you like this chapter!

**I'm sure I'll get asked this, but those lyrics are credited to my fantastic guitar teacher, Stan, who is an amazing song writer. I just changed around a lyric or two to fit with the story. If you want to hear what it sounds like his Myspace address is futurevsounds!**

**Also, I have a new story out called** **More Than Words and it's a Cena x OC story. This one takes place in the relative present, starting out in October 2007, so it's a little different. Please please please check this out and review that one too!**

**The last time I had you guys check out a story I had written, it was when I was first writing Partners in Crime and I was recommending the original She's a Rebel. Take that's for what it's worth!**

**ROCK ON, REBELS!**

**Danielle**


	10. Chapter 10

Jessica smiled as she pulled into the parking lot of the TD Banknorth Garden. This was the place where she would reunite with some of her best friends for the first time in nearly four months. This was the place in which she called her home turf for the last six years of her career.

As her S7 settled into one of the parking spots near the back door, she grabbed her black pocketbook and headed for the security-laden entrance.

Within a few minutes however, clad in a pair of patchwork jeans and a black peacoat, she was swarmed by fans.

"Hi, guys!" she beamed at them brightly as they lined the entrance.

For about a half hour, Jessica signed autographs and took pictures, but then apologized, "I'm sorry, guys, I have to go. My knee is getting sore, I'm getting cold, and that is a bad combination, especially when it's snowing. I'll be back out here later tonight, though. I swear!"

The fans didn't seem to mind as she pushed through the door and was immediately met by a warm blast of air.

"Ahhh," she sighed in relief and continued down the hall.

"Is that who I think it is?" a male voice called from behind her.

Jessica turned around to see a large man in a suit leaning against a wall, his arms crossed over his chest, and a sly grin plastered across his face.

"Dave!" she cried in excitement and walked quickly over to the large man, whose arms immediately encircled her much smaller frame and lifted her into the air.

"Hey you," he replied brightly, hugging her tightly, before putting her down. "You look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you. You look like you again."

"Um… thank you?" she scrunched her nose again.

"It was a compliment," he affirmed with a nod. "Listen, I gotta run and film my backstage segment with Melina."

"Your _backstage_ segment?" Jessica arched at eyebrow at the notion.

"Yeah… let's just say it's a good thing that I'm in the middle of a divorce right now or this would look awfully bad," he mused.

"About that…" she looked down at her sneakers and then back up into his brown eyes, "I'm sorry. I should have been there for you when it happened."

"Don't be stupid," he placed a large hand on her shoulder, "You had a lot of your own shit to take care of. My personal life has been eroding for years, Jess. There's nothing you could have done to change it."

"I know… I just wish I was there."

"I wish you were there too, but I can't fault you for it, McMahon," he assured her. "Now go off and torture Mr. Orton. Now that his final stint on Raw is over, he's been a little bitch lately."

"Okay," Jessica agreed with a laugh. "Which way is the locker room?"

Dave pointed to his left and she continued her path down to the locker room.

Halfway there, however, she was met by her sister in the hallway.

_And let the hell commence…

* * *

_

John sat in the driver's seat of his car and looked out of the window. Even there, it was snowing, albeit not as hard as it had snowed earlier that day.

It had been two months since had seen his girlfriend and while they had been separated for much longer when they were still just friends, being apart now was killing him.

He missed her smile, he missed her laugh… he missed everything about her. It was going to be odd to see her walking on her own again, without the brace and without the crutches, but it would be a welcome sight. She would be what she had so desperately wanted to be for the last four months: normal.

* * *

"What were you thinking?!" she screamed at her shrilly.

"So you heard?" Jessica smirked and placed her hands on her hips.

"Of course I heard, Jessica!" Stephanie rolled her eyes at her younger sister. "Are you insane? Do you _know_ what Mom is going to do…"

"Nothing," her sister cut her off. "I'm a grown woman and it was my house. I did what I had to do and Mom has no reason to feel otherwise."

"Oh no, I get that," Steph assured her with a nod, "But she's been giving Dad hell ever since."

Jessica shook her head vehemently, "Wait. She's giving _Dad_ hell? Why him?"

"I don't know…" Stephanie trailed off, waving her hand around in an attempt to recall the answer, "Something about 'it's your fault that you taught her to be so impatient' or some crap like that. Personally, I couldn't stand the woman, but whatever. Not my problem anymore."

The younger sister slid her hands past each other symbolically, "Not mine either."

"I'm just glad that when she finally decides to cut both me and Shane out of the will, we will already have made a few million between us," the older sister laughed.

"Who knows?" Jessica shrugged. "Maybe she'll leave it to Mom and then her great-grandchildren," she added, glancing down at Stephanie's slightly protruding stomach.

"Yeah…" she smiled proudly and placed her hands over her stomach. "See, that's the good thing about this kid… it'll never have to go through its life with the last name McMahon. Shane's kids… not so lucky, including the new one. It's so weird, I mean, Marissa's due in March and I'm due in August. Go figure," she shrugged and glanced at her stomach, then back at her sister. "So uh, Jess…?"

"Mhmm?" her sister bit down lightly on her lip.

"You think you and John are gonna… join Marissa and me anytime soon?"

Jessica clenched her eyes shut tightly and shook her head before opening them again, "God no."

"Well, I didn't necessarily mean having kids, Jess," Stephanie rolled her eyes at her sister. "I meant getting married. I would certainly hope you'd wait until after then to have kids."

The younger McMahon continued to shake her head as she started walking again in the opposite direction of her sister, "Goodbye, Steph," she called back to her with a wave.

"Just think about it!" Stephanie called out after her as she watched her sister's form retreat.

"God," Jessica sighed and talked to no one in particular, "Give me the strength to not turn out as insane as my family. I mean, if you have to make me like anyone, please allow me to be like my brother. I don't think I could take living out my life as delusional as my sister."

"I, for one, am flattered that you'd choose to be like me over anyone else."

"Shane," she smiled and looked to her left, where her older brother had just walked out of one of the offices.

"Hey little sister," he smiled at her and gave her a hug before releasing her. "Doing well, I see?"

"Yeah," Jessica nodded. "I'm getting there, I'm getting there. How are you doing? Is Marissa driving you crazy with her hormones?"

"Actually," Shane shook his head, "She's been a lot better than she was before Declan was born. Aside from a few weird cravings, her hormones have remained in check for the last six months."

"That's good…" she trailed off with a nod and a smile.

"How are things with you and John?" Shane asked curiously. "From what I've seen of him, which hasn't been much lately, he's been okay. I know he's taking the separation a little hard, though."

"Yeah, I am too," Jessica admitted. "It's hard getting used to. One month, we're spending every single day together and the next month, we're a thousand miles apart."

"At least you have the benefit of being a full-time wrestler. I mean, Steph and Paul are together a lot, but with her being pregnant now, she's gonna have to slow it down and hang back a lot. Next summer, it won't just be her and Paul separated. It'll be her and the baby at home, with Paul somewhere else. And me?" he asked rhetorically and shrugged. "Well, I have the luxury of going home when I want, but I'm still on the road a lot. But you… well, you're with John all the time. You have no idea how much that makes a difference in the relationship. It's actually semi-normal," he laughed, knowing just how abnormal their family really was. "And here I am giving you a lecture on relationships when you're twenty seven years old and just look to visit some old friends. Anyway… go find Orton. He's been a pain in the ass lately."

"Yeah. Listen… John and I were thinking about having Christmas at our house this year," his sister informed him and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "If you're up for the trip, and Marissa's okay to fly in for the weekend, we'd love to have you there."

"I think Marissa already committed to her parents for Christmas, but I'll see what I can do for New Year's, if that day's free for you and John."

"Definitely," she nodded.

"Alright," Shane agreed. "It's settled then. I'll see you after the show, okay?"

"Mhmm. See you later," she waved goodbye to her brother and continued on her quest to find Randy Orton.

* * *

John sighed as he came to a stop at a traffic light. At the rate he was going, he'd never get there in time. The snow wouldn't lighten up anymore, it just kept falling in droves.

Getting the venue, especially when driving, was exceptionally hard without inclement weather and this was making it much, much worse.

He tapped his head against the steering wheel lightly, "Vince is going to kill me."

* * *

A knock resonated through the doors of the men's locker room and Matt Hardy voluntary rose from his feet to answer.

Matt pulled at the doorknob, allowing for a small opening to peek his head around, and immediately asked, "Yeah?"

Before him stood the five foot seven inch, caramel blonde, "That's one way to talk to your boss."

A slow smile spread across his face, "I guess that's one way…"

She nodded and laughed, "Is everyone in here decent?"

"Hold on a second," he ordered her and turned around, scanning the locker room for any sign of nudity. "Yeah," he affirmed with a nod and pulled back the door completely. "Come on in."

Jessica entered the locker room and immediately recognized almost every face inside, save a few rookies who were there for dark matches and nothing more.

She was greeted by every single one of them with a hug and a smile as they quickly filtered out the door for matches, promos, discussions, or dinner, leaving only her and Matt in the room.

"The kid's in the shower," Matt informed her, knowingly exactly whom she was looking for. "I swear, if his head gets any better, they're going to have to widen all of the doors."

"Want me to take care of it?" she offered, as if she was the older sibling propositioning that she beat up the playground bully.

"Eh…" he shrugged. "If you want."

"Oh, I want," she nodded and chuckled. "No protégé of mine is going to act out among the veterans, I'll tell you that much."

"Well, considering who his father is, I'm not surprised. Especially, since he's in the building tonight…"

"Bob Orton?" she arched an eyebrow. "Cowboy Bob Orton is in the arena tonight?"

"Part of his program against Mark," Matt informed her casually. "Anyway, I'll leave you to it," he added, walking towards the door. "I'll catch you after the show, okay?"

Jessica nodded her head silently and watched as Matt disappeared through the door, taking a seat on a bench with her back against the doorway.

"Hey, kid? What are you still doing in here?" a distinctive male voice called from behind her.

* * *

"Vince, I…" John attempted to explain as his boss's voice rose on the other end of the conversation.

He had just called to inform Vince McMahon that at the rate things were going, he'd be lucky to make it six hours late. On any other day, the trip would maybe take ten hours. The ridiculous amount of snow falling from the sky was making it nearly triple that. Apparently, however, this explanation did not satisfy the WWE Chairman.

"What use am I if I arrive in a body bag?" he asked him, frustration coursing through his veins. "I'm doing my best. How many other superstars are doing this?"

John could only shake his head as he heard Vince's response and the phone line go dead.

"Great," he laughed angrily and threw the cell phone down on the passenger seat. "Just fucking awesome."

* * *

Jessica smacked her lips together and shook her head, "I know you didn't just think I was a guy."

The man did a double take and his jaw nearly dropped to the ground, "Jessica?"

She turned around, her caramel locks following her as she stood up from the bench and waved her hands in presentation, "In the flesh."

"I didn't know you were going to be here!" he smiled brightly at her, moving towards her.

"Come on, Randy," Jessica rolled her eyes at his empty-headedness. "Did you really think I'd let the WWE come to Boston and not venture out of my house?"

"No," he admitted with a smirk on his face, approaching her in nothing more than a white towel and water beads dripping down his body. "I guess not."

"Whoa," she put up a hand and pressed it against his chest, "I hope you're not thinking of even attempting to give me a hug. God forbid you move and that towel drops, and you're up against me, you'll never have anything to cover ever again… and that's a promise."

"Okay, okay," the much taller Orton back away from her and held his hands up in mock surrender. "I will get changed. Jesus, no need to threat the manhood."

Jessica couldn't help but crack a grin as he rummaged through his duffel bag and disappeared around the corner.

Oh yes, she was back.

"Shane, I don't think he's gonna be making it in time," Vince sighed, rubbing a through his hair. "The weather's too bad and he's still got two or three more hours of driving before he even enters the state."

"Dad, have some faith in the guy," Shane assured his father, taking a seat on the edge of the desk. "He hasn't let anyone down in this entire company."

"It's a blizzard outside, kid," the older man stated bluntly. "Something happens to Cena, I'll be in deep shit. Plus, your moody sister will kill me…"

"Which one?" Shane mused, fully knowing what the answer to the question really was.

"The naturally moody one, not the pregnant one."

"Alright, I'm dressed now," Randy announced heading back into the room in a pair of jeans, pulling over his body a navy blue tee shirt. "Are you happy now?"

"Very," she answered with a simple nod and a smile.

"So you up for dinner?" he asked her, smoothing out his shirt.

"Sure… what's on the menu tonight?"

"I guess someone knew you were coming tonight," Orton shrugged and smiled at her, "Cause they brought out the mac and cheese."

"Damn, I missed this place," Jessica laughed and locked arms with her good friend. "Lead the way?"

"You know it."

* * *

Jessica smiled as she flopped down onto the couch in the family room.

It didn't matter that the lawn outside, although blanketed by nearly eight inches of snow and counting, was completely wrecked. It didn't matter that her car had nearly skidded out six times on the way home. It didn't matter that she probably wouldn't be seeing any of her friends again until she returned to the WWE roster. She had gotten a dose of a normal life once again and that meant the world to her.

The night had been absolutely perfect. The fans lined up outside like she had never seen before, chanting her name as though they were a crowd of a thousand people or more, and even as the snow fell around them, chilling her to the bone, she had never felt more at home.

Even sitting on her couch, in a house which was built on love and in which she was raised on love, nothing compared to that sensation.

Still lost in her reverie, she didn't even notice that her phone was vibrating in her pocket.

Finally she answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, babe," John's voice greeted her. "What are you up to?"

"Not much," she sighed dreamily, still reflecting on the events of the past night. "I just got home from the Smackdown taping."

"How was it?"

"It. Was. Amazing," Jessica smiled into the phone, unable to remove the plastered grin from her face. "I felt… normal again. It was an incredible feeling. Enough about my night… what are you up to?"

"Me?" he asked and then shrugged, balancing the phone against his ear with his shoulder. "Not much, I'm just driving around here. It's kind of snowing."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," she nodded in understanding, even though he couldn't actually see her doing so, "We've got about eight inches here. I heard on the radio, on my way home, it could reach over a foot by the time the night's over."

"Christ, that's a lot of snow," he laughed. "Just get one of my brothers to take care of the driveway, preferably Sean. He needs a job."

"He takes after his brother at that age," she played into his joke with a light chuckle and sprawled out onto the couch, resting on her back.

"He definitely does," John agreed a sigh. "God, I miss your laugh."

"I miss you too… but it's just one more week, right? It'll pass soon enough," she added optimistically.

"Mhmm," he agreed as the doorbell rang and echoed throughout the house.

"Wow," Jessica marveled as she sat up from the couch. "Speaking of one of your brothers, apparently, one of them has chosen to come and bother me at one o'clock in the morning."

"Jackasses," he rolled his eyes, even though she couldn't see it, "Give them a good smack upside the head from me. Wait," he paused to come up with a better punishment. "Got it. Just punch them, anywhere you want."

"Anywhere?" she asked deviously, a smirk crossing her usually-sweet face as she stood up and made her way for the door.

"Yes. Anywhere," John repeated, a smirk on his own face now.

"Okay," Jessica agreed. "Let me hang up, though, and I'll call you back and let you know just how much pain I inflicted at your request."

John couldn't help but chuckle again, "I look forward to it. I'll talk to you in a little bit. Bye," he added and the phone clicked.

Jessica shook her head and grinned for what seemed like the millionth time that night as she turned on the porch light and unlocked the door.

"You know, I really should knock your ass out for ringing my doorbell at one in the morning," she began sassily as she turned the doorknob and opened the door.

But as Jessica opened the door and looked into the dim glow of her porch light, she didn't find one of John's brothers.

"Please don't do that," the young man smiled, his azure eyes sparkling, even as the snow fell behind him. "I drove through a snowstorm to get here."

A beaming smile spread across Jessica's face and she leaned against the doorframe, completely in disbelief.

Without a moment's notice, she shot through the door and jumped into John's arms, forcing him to drop his suitcase and duffel bag, as she pressed her lips against his. She reveled in his touch as his arms wrapped around her petite frame, feeling the warmth of his body as they stood outside in the cold.

Jessica pulled away from him for air, "I can't believe you actually drove through this storm."

"I couldn't be away from you anymore," he shook his head. "I missed your smile, your laugh, everything about you. I couldn't wait the week; I just had to see you."

His girlfriend smiled as he placed her down on the porch lightly and picked up his bags, "I'm glad you came."

"Me too," he nodded with an equally large grin. "Now come on, let's go inside. I've been standing outside ever since I called you and I'm getting cold."

"Yeah," she agreed and led him back into the house he hadn't stepped foot in for more than two months. "Hey, John?" she asked him, turning to face John, whose black, puffy jacket and dark blue jeans were covered in snow.

"What?" John replied, placing his bags down beside the now closed front door.

"Welcome home."

* * *

**A/N: I thought this would be a good ending to a chapter to satisfy you all.**

**I just happened to notice, reading back over the last few chapters, that I've been utilizing curse words a lot lately... oh well. Shit happens. Oops. There I go again. Hehe.**

**And disclaimer: I wrote this from 1am to 3am. So if there are any typos... I'll fix them eventually when I am of sound mind.**

**But, on a nice note, I'm glad that we reached ten reviews this go around, save my friend, Julia, who will be reviewing both chapters NINE and TEN. You heard me, Julz. Now deal with it… or I'll delete your Webkinz account. Mwaahhh!**

**ANYHOO… shout outs:**

**I'm.Totally.Fxcking.Awesome – **Hell yeah, she kicked Anna out. You really didn't expect someone as headstrong as Jess is to sit around and take it, did you? And I'm glad you liked the banners. Thanks for checking out MTW, by the way.

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – **I know… what was she thinking? I couldn't help but laugh at Dave's antics too. Personally, I follow Randy's philosophy… ten pm is sleeping in, even though John thinks it's a coma.

**dj-ssdd – **Thank you!!!!!!!! And yeah, Anna totally deserved it.

**Chain Gang Princess** **– **I hope you thought this chapter was cute too!

**JCEdgeRKO – **How dare she tear up that yard! At least the snow covers it… and I can't wait to hear that idea.

**Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 – **Ask and you shall receive, my friend. By the way, did you ever realize just how difficult it is to type out your penname? LOL.

**Lil-miss-wrestling-fan – **Good to hear that he/she has finally gotten used to it. Sometimes, in life, individuality is the only thing that will ever allow us to be truly happy. And those who don't like it can…. SUCK IT!!!!!!!

**Animal-Luvr-89 – **Yay! Another new reader! And I don't hold you accountable for missing this story. You have repented. Your sin is forgiven. Haha.

**Ashleigh – **ANOTHER new reader!?!?!I am absolutely floored when people say that they read all 21 chapters of She's a Rebel and then read the existing chapters of She's a Rebel II. Once again, I humbly thank you for your review.

**And I think that's it for now… keep those reviews coming, people. I love love love them! And you! And John!**

**Christ, now I'm babbling.**

**On a side note… Spencer's Gifts now carries a shirt that has John Cena's picture on it and says: I (heart) Cena.**

**Just thought you all would like to know.**

**Danielle**


	11. Chapter 11

John laid down on the bed, still wearing the same dark jeans and black hooded sweatshirt as he was wearing when he came home. Since he was standing under the cover of the veranda, he really hadn't gotten snowed on that much and subsequently, didn't require a change in outfit.

Jessica smoothed out her black sweater and slid on top of the covers next to John, not really caring about changing into more comfortable attire. She sidled up to him and shook her head, a smile gracing her face.

"What is it?" he asked, looking down at her and brushing a strand of blonde hair out of her face.

"I still… I still can't believe you're home," she finished and then looked up at him. "Being away from you for two months really sucked."

A slight chuckle escaped his lips, "It sucked for me too."

"How bad was the drive?" Jessica asked him, taking the hand attached to the arm that had found its way around her body and lacing it with her own.

"You mean the weather… or the conversations with your father?" he finished with an easy laugh.

"Dad will never change."

"If he did, I'd be worried," John assured her, kissing the side of her head. "Are you excited for Christmas?"

"Mhmm," she answered with a bob of the head. "We still have to get a tree though. I mean, we can't exactly have everyone over for Christmas and not have a tree. I think that'd look a little bad."

"Well, the snow's supposed to ease up some time tomorrow afternoon," he informed her with a smile. "Once it's lighter, we'll go get ourselves a tree. Did you get all of the presents?"

"Yeah, but…" she bit her lip and turned over slightly, towards the window.

"But… what?" he reached his right hand over and turned her back towards him.

"I mean, I got everything that Samantha, Amanda, Aaron, and Anthony asked for… but I think I went a little overboard."

John rubbed the side of his head lightly, "Are you telling me we're going to need a second tree?"

"Well, no," she pursed her lips together, "But we might need a bigger one."

"To quote Jim Ross… Good God, woman."

* * *

_The Rebel's Release – 12/22/05_

_I can't believe it's almost Christmas already. I feel as though it was just yesterday that I was being wheeled into the operating room and low and behold, that was actually a little over two months ago._

_I'm well on my way to a full recovery, thank goodness, but it is at this time, nearing the holiday season, I count every single blessing that I have. So bear with me, because I'm about to do it._

_I am recovering well._

_I have a happy and a healthy family._

_I am about to become an aunt for the second and third time._

_A large portion of my family is flying in for Christmas._

_My boyfriend, who drove for twelve hours in a snowstorm, is home for the first time in just over two months._

_I have four adorable, although incredibly rambunctious godchildren who take after their father's side of the family._

_My record is slated for a March 2006 release._

_I might have a movie in the works._

_I have an awesome job and career that has far exceeded my expectations._

_I get to spend the holidays with someone I haven't spent them with in over six years._

_I live in an awesome country protected by amazing people, also knows as the United States Armed Forces._

_I get to be home for the holidays._

_What are you all thankful for this year? _

_- Jessica

* * *

_

Jessica pressed her face against the cool glass, attempting to look upward at the roof of John's Range Rover, and then turned back towards him at the wheel.

"Are you sure this one is big enough?" she asked him once again.

"Baby," John shook his head in frustration and attempted to stay focused on the road, "For the third time, it's the biggest one they had. There are no bigger."

"You didn't answer my question…"

"YES!" he exclaimed and rolled his eyes. "The freaking tree is big enough! Are you happy now?"

"Very," she nodded.

* * *

The doorbell resonated throughout the house as the snow continued to fall outside. While it had lightened up in the past few days, it never really stopped altogether.

Dressed in a brown sweater and black jeans, John approached the door, "I've got it, Jess."

He reached for the doorknob, twisted, and then pulled, coming face to face with his older brother, sister-in-law, and four nieces and nephews.

"Uncle John!" the triplets yelled happily and threw themselves at their uncle's much larger body.

"Munchkins!" he laughed, nearly falling over from the attack, and tried to scoot back so that Jamie could enter with the littlest one, Anthony. John playfully tickled the little boy cradled in his mother's arms, "Mini-munchkin."

"Hey, John," Jamie smiled at him, kissing his cheek and then sniffing the air. "Something smells good."

"It's not him, baby," Steve assured her from his position near the door. "It's Jess's cooking."

"I think both smell good," she affirmed with a nod. "Speaking of which, where is your lovely girlfriend, Cena?"

John gestured over his shoulder with his thumb, "In the kitchen. She won't let me touch a thing."

Steve laughed as his wife shooed the kids towards the kitchen as she walked, "I think that's a good thing. How've you been, man?" he asked his younger brother, clasping his hand and bumping chests.

"I'm doing just fine," John smiled with a nod. "I'm home, with my family on Christmas, and a kick ass dinner is cooking in the kitchen. I can't ask for much more. How've you been?"

"Eh… pretty good," Steve bobbed his head. "I mean, those four kids are running me ragged, but other than that I'm alright."

"I think you need to give yourself a Christmas gift this year," the younger brother concluded with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

John shrugged, "A vasectomy."

* * *

"Look who's here, everyone!" John beamed as Jessica's parents walked into the kitchen, rounding out the guest list.

Jessica grinned brightly as she took off her oven mitts, tossed them on the counter, and made her way over to her mother and father.

"Mom!" she threw her arms around her slightly shorter mother. "Dad!" she exclaimed and hugged her taller father. "How was your flight?"

"It was good," Linda replied with a smile. "No problems."

"See, Jessie…" Vince smirked proudly. "I told you that the company jet was the way to go."

"Alright, alright," she rolled her eyes and returned to the stovetop, stirring the contents of a pot. "You've made your point."

Vince clapped his hands and rubbed them together, "So what's on the menu for tonight."

"Already tried that," John Senior interred. "She won't tell anyone. Not even John knows."

"Seriously, Vince," the younger John agreed with his father. "He won't."

"How about everyone goes downstairs to the basement and just relaxes while I finish up here, okay?" Jessica suggested, trying to get everyone away from her workspace.

"Nonsense," Jamie shook her off. "I'll stay up here… Steve," she turned to her husband, "Take the kids downstairs. Anthony's fine up here, he's sleeping in the swing."

"Yeah, alright…" he replied and begrudgingly gathered up the triplets, Samantha, Amanda, and Aaron, leading the way downstairs.

"Are you sure none of us can help you with anything, Jess?" the red-headed woman known as Carol Cena asked her son's girlfriend. "I wouldn't mind."

"This is your time to relax, Carol," Jessica smiled politely at the woman whom she often referred to as her second mother. "Go enjoy your grandchildren."

* * *

John clanged on a wine glass with his a spoon, causing the clamor and chatter in the dining room to grow to a minimum.

"I know that we've already begun dinner," he prefaced, standing up at the head of the table, "But I would like to say a few things."

The family congregated at the red and green trimmed oak table nodded and looked up at the tall man intently.

"Well, for starters," he glanced over at his girlfriend with a smile and then looked back down the length of the table, "Jessica and I are so glad that everyone could make it. It's nice to have both sides of the family here. Vince, Linda… it's a pleasure to have you."

Both Vince and Linda nodded approvingly.

"Thank you, John," Vince bowed his head slightly at him.

"And Mom, Dad… Dan, Matt, Steve, Jamie, Sean…" John ticked off all of the names of his family members lining the table, before arriving at what he'd affectionately termed high-chair row, "Munchkins… we're more than happy to have you here, as well. I've known Jessica for twenty years now and in all of those years, there has never been a meeting of the families like this."

Jessica nodded, fully knowing what John had said was true. She had taken him to see her parents in Connecticut when she was eighteen for Wrestlemania and of course, she had known every member of his family personally for twenty years, but both families had never come together for a single occasion before now.

"Unfortunately, Stephanie and Shane could not be here tonight," John continued, "But hopefully, they will be able to share in a day as special as this one very soon, with new family members to show off. I know that I speak for Jessica when I say that we feel so fortunate to have a family like this one," he lifted his glass, half full with red wine, and looked over at his girlfriend, "So here's to the good health and good fortune of both the McMahons and the Cenas, those present and absent, in 2006, and may those who are no longer physically here, but are present in spirit, watch over us all."

"Here here," Senior boasted, clinking classes with Vince, who sat opposite him.

John pulled his chair back under him with his hands and like everyone else, took a long sip of the wine..

Jessica reached over and rested her hand lightly on top of his before leaning forward and whispering, "That was absolutely beautiful."

He swiveled his head towards her and smiled, "That was for you."

* * *

"Me first!" a young voice yelled.

"No me!" the blonde girl retorted.

"No me!" the older of the two sisters pouted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," John halted the triplets before the argument could run similar to those of him and his brothers at a young age, "How about you open them at the same time?" he suggested and pointed to the Christmas tree. "Go for it, guys."

Immediately, the three waddled over to the tree and began sorting through each box, making a pile of their gifts, causing all of the adults to laugh.

"Hey, John," Carol addressed her former husband and nudged him lightly in the side, "Who do they remind you of?"

"It's actual scary, Carol," he agreed with a nod and took a sip from his coffee mug.

Jessica shook her head and let out a chuckle, "Hey, John," she nudged her boyfriend in the side and pointed to his father's half-empty mug, "Like father like son, huh?"

"Mommy! Look!" the brown-haired tot cried in excitement as she pulled out the last of her eight Barbie and friends dolls. "It's the whole thing… just like on the TV."

"I see, Sammy," Jamie played into the oldest child's excitement.

"Cool!" Aaron bounced up and down, holding his game boy and an array of games. "It's blue… and there's Pokemon!!!"

"Dora's Kitchen!" Amanda beamed as she threw the wrapping paper aside.

"What do you guys say to Auntie Jess and Uncle John?" Jamie arched her eyebrow at the children.

"Thank you," they sang happily and ran over to jump on top of Jessica, who was sitting on the couch, first.

"No, no, munchkins," she halted them in their tracks. "Auntie Jessie has a bad boo boo on her knee, remember? You can jump on Uncle John, though!"

The children squealed in delight and gleefully hopped on top of John, causing him to slide off the arm of the couch and onto the floor.

"Thanks, Jess," he gasped out, fighting all three of the kids off of him. "I appreciate it."

"Come on, Cena. You can lift the Big Show over your head, but you can't deal with three little kids?" Matt taunted his older brother.

"And I can still kick your ass…" John smirked at him.

Jessica smacked him sharply in the arm, "Language!"

"Sorry, sorry," he rubbed the sore spot on his arm.

* * *

About an hour later, most of the gifts under the tree had been opened and wrapping paper had been crammed into black garbage bags that were scattered across the room.

Jessica had received a bunch of vintage band tees from Matt, a pink cashmere scarf, hat, and mitten set from Jamie and Steve, along with a necklace with five small dangling dolls that represented her godchildren and her nephew, with room for additional charms, from the triplets and Anthony, a pair of gold and diamond hoops from her parents, a David Wright replica jersey from Dan, a snowglobe with a picture of the five Cena boys and Jessica on Christmas inside from Sean, and a beautiful star ornament meant to rest atop the Christmas tree from Carol and John. It was tradition, in the Cena family, to give a couple an ornament on their first Christmas together as a sign of good luck and fortune in their relationship.

John had received various clothes from Jamie and Steve, and Carol and John, and his three younger brothers, a bunch of Red Sox and Patriots things for the new Tampa house from his nieces and nephews, and a gold watch from Vince and Linda.

"I believe," John reached under the tree and pulled out three small boxes, all neatly wrapped and stacked one on top of the other, "That it is now your turn, Jess."

"Ooh, yay!" she beamed and took the boxes out of John's hands equally as fast as her godchildren had attacked the Christmas tree just an hour before. "Any particular one first?"

"Open the small box, then the bigger box, and then the flat one," he instructed her.

"Only if you open yours at the same time," she countered, producing three large boxes from the side of the couch, which she was now sitting in front of.

"Fine," he nodded and took the boxes from her this time.

Simultaneously, they opened their first boxes.

Jessica found a tiny, red velvet box and opened it to find a white gold ring, which consisted of two vines making a spiral. Excitedly, she slid it on her left ring finger and moved her hand backwards to get a better view.

"Now, I know you love wearing that fire topaz ring on your right hand, but I thought the left one looked rather empty at the moment," he explained to her as she continued to marvel at his first present. "Do you like it?"

"John," she shook her head, "I LOVE it. It's beautiful… now open yours!"

John opened the plain white box and encountered a heap of tissue paper, "Please tell me nothing is taped to the…" he trailed off and caught sight of the jersey inside, "Bottom."

"Signed by the entire 2004 World Series team," she informed him with a grin, "Number 54. Cena."

"This is the best present… ever," he held it up excitedly as though he was a little kid again. "Dad?"

"The coolest," the elder Cena concurred with a light chuckle.

John and Jessica reached for their second presents and tore away at those, as well.

He found inside a small blue box and opened it to find a white gold band with titanium weaving around the ring.

"Look inside," Jessica instructed him as she continued to unwrap her own.

_Always my champion - JM._

He slid it onto his left finger. Normally, he wasn't one to wear anything more than a watch, but as long as he wore this ring, he always had a piece of Jessica with him, even when she was not.

"Great minds think alike," he concluded and watched anxiously as she tenderly opened the box.

Inside, she found a royal blue sphere with a band of silver sparkles at the top and bottom of the orb. Twirling it around, she noticed that in the center, something was written in silver glitter script.

_Our first Christmas  
December 25, 2005_

Jessica reached over and hung the sapphire ornament from one of the middle branches on the tree, "It's perfect."

"I'm glad you like it," he smiled as she turned around, commiserating with the Jamie on her right about the ornament.

"Pound it, man," Steve offered his fist to his brother. "You did good."

"Thanks, bro."

"Now," Jessica cleared her throat. "You first."

Not one to argue with her, he opened his thin present, which was hard to the touch. As he peeled away the paper, his jaw dropped.

"You kept this?" he continued to stare at her.

"It's been in this house ever since I graduated college," Jessica smiled at his reaction. "You thought I threw it out?"

"After the crap I pulled, I never expected to see you again… let alone this jersey," he clicked his tongue once and ran his hand over the framed glass. "Can we put this over our bed?"

"Um… how about we leave that discussion for later?" she suggested with a roll of her hazel eyes. "Christ, John… it's your college football jersey, not the crucifix."

"I don't want Jesus over my bed… that infers the unholy nature of…"

She clamped a hand over his mouth, "Shut up now Or I _will_ kill you."

He nodded and she removed her palm from his lips. John reached forward and pushed the thin present towards her.

Once the wrapping was off, she found a thin, manila envelope. Carefully, Jessica tore it open and tilted it, emptying a lavender leather strap, a small, metal heart, and a piece of paper into her waiting palm.

"I'm out of here!" Sean announced. "This has gotten way too kinky for me!"

"Young man!" Carol chided her son. "You will sit your you-know-what down before I take that thing from Jess and beat you repeatedly with it."

"That's child abuse!" he protested with a pout.

Jessica laughed at him, "Yeah, you're not a minor anymore, buddy. Doesn't work."

_But I won't tell you that assault does. It's slipped my mind…_

"Damn."

Curiously, she unfolded the paper and read the typed letter aloud.

"Dear Ms. McMahon, we are pleased to inform you that a member of our litter has been purchased in your name. As the first to purchase one of our pure-bred female Chocolate Labrador retrievers, you have the right to choose first once the puppies are born. Your puppy has been sired by Buddy and the dam carrying the litter is named Rage. Her due date is sometime around the beginning of January. We will notify you of their birth and inform you at that time, when you can select your puppy. Congratulations, Merrimac Kennels," she concluded as a smile spread across her face. "John? You got me a puppy?!?"

"I figured that it'd help keep you company while I was gone," he shrugged. "I didn't want you to be alone anymore."

She put all of her weight on her good knee and reached forward, her arms encircling his neck, "You are something else."

Jamie smacked Steve in the side, eliciting a yelp, "What was that for?"

"Why don't you do anything like that for me?"

Jessica planted a light kiss on his lips and smiled lovingly at her boyfriend as she gazed into his eyes, "You know what they say… the first time's when you learn what your mistakes were. The second time around is when you correct them all."

* * *

**A/N: I figured that a Christmas themed chapter would be appropriate and I wanted to get it up tonight for that exact reason!**

**I was so impressed by the turnout of reviewers for this chapter and I have to thank you guys!**

**SHOUT OUTS:**

**JCEdgeRKO – **I'm holding you to that theory!

**Chain Gang Princess – **If I wasn't such a Cena-lover, I'd have a hard time thinking of anything else but that towel. Hehe.

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf** – Yeah, I'm taking a trip to the mall the day after Christmas and buying one of my friends his present from Spencers. I think I shall be getting myself a little present of my own…a John Cena shirt. My first wrestling-related shirt ever. So exciting. And yeah, I made John my own little dream guy, as if he weren't amazing enough already. I agree with both you and Steph, they should. Just… not right now.

**I'm.Totally.Fxcking.Awesome – **Double yay for the McCena reunion. And Chantel, it'd be rather difficult to hurt me. Despite the knee injury, I could still kick your ass. Just putting that out there… just kidding. But seriously, I could.

**Da-Realz-Mrz-Cena102100 – **As long as you know.

**Animal-Luvr-89 – **That was one of my favorite parts of the chapter. What was your favorite one from this chapter?

**Goddessofthenite – **You still owe me another review. And you and I both know it.

**Lil-miss-wrestling-fan – **Totally. And they should all have to wear bags over their heads… so we know who they are!

**Dj-ssdd – **How wouldNew Years Eve with John Cena go? I have some ideas…

**Miniature-hero – **Thank you! Merry Christmas to you too! Or shall I say¡felíz navidad!

**Candace – **Wow! Welcome, new reader! There should be a flashback coming up in another chapter or two. And as usual, another journal entry. They're going to be grrreat! Alright, so I just had some Frosted Flakes, but it's still gonna rock.

**Nic-002001 – **I was wondering where in the blue hell you went! Welcome back. Glad you're all caught up now!

**And with that, Chapter 11 of She's a Rebel II: Unravel is over. You can definitely expect another chapter before the end of 2007.**

**Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you get tons and tons of good presents! Personally, I'm wishing for John Cena. **

**You hear that, Santa? I've been a very good girl this year and I deserve my prize!**

**Danielle**


	12. Chapter 12

_A People Magazine Exclusive_: **_Is John Cena off the market?_**

_Early in the morning on December 26__th__, WWE Superstar John Cena was spotted having breakfast with some guy friends in Boston. Also spotted, was what looked to be a white gold and platinum woven band on his left ring finger._

_Acclaimed New York City jeweler to the stars, Carol Banks, who has neither John, nor his girlfriend, WWE Diva and heiress, Jessica McMahon, as a client, tells us, "This design is becoming more and more popular for a wedding band. In fact, I've created quite a few this year for that purpose alone."_

_Could this Christmas have really been all about the white for John and Jessica?

* * *

_

_**Rumor Has It…**_

_One Perez-lover, Katelyn M. of Boston, MA, has just informed me via email that she was out to breakfast this morning and got quite the surprise!_

"_Hey, Perez! I went to grab something to eat this morning with a few of my girlfriends and guess who I saw?!? __**Jessica McMahon! **__While she wasn't with __**John (Cena)**__, she certainly wasn't alone… and neither was her left hand!"_

_Maybe the anti-heiress and the wrestler really did get hitched!_

_(Insert yummy pic of John Cena without a shirt here.)

* * *

_

_**While most of wrestling is fake…**_

_Apparently, some of it isn't. Numerous media sources have been reporting that WWE Superstar __**John Cena**__ and his girlfriend, __**Jessica McMahon, **__a fellow wrestler and the daughter of WWE Chairman, __**Vince McMahon**__, who have been romantically linked on-screen since July, got married on Christmas Day._

_In an AOL exclusive, we have learned that the private corporate jet of Vince and his wife, __**Linda**__, took off from Hartford, Connecticut, and landed in Boston, Massachusetts, early Christmas morning.

* * *

_

_More on the People Mag. Exclusive_: _**Jessica McMahon - Cena?!?!**_

_As we head closer and closer to 2006, it appears as though this could very well be the case!_

_The picture above clearly shows a ring on Jessica's left hand and it appears to be a band of her own, which weaves up and down in the shape of ivy leaves._

"_As far as ring-choices, she could have very well opted for a non-traditional look, as well," renowned jeweler, Carol Banks, notes. "Contemporary is very in this year."_

_It looks like an announcement should be on its way in 2006!!!

* * *

_

_**Not a proud father? **__Vince McMahon PANICKING over his daughter's marriage!_

_An anonymous source within World Wrestling Entertainment informs us that Vince is flipping over his daughter, Jessica's, alleged nuptials this past Thursday. _

"_Vince already has enough pressure on him from his older daughter, Stephanie's, husband, (WWE Superstar) Paul (Levesque, AKA Triple H)," spills the source. "He's always had a lot of pull backstage, but when they got married, it increased tremendously. Vince is afraid that John (Cena) will turn out to be this way, as well!"

* * *

_

_**Jessica McMahon-stealer?**_

_John Cena's ex-girlfriend tells Star Magazine that she and John were engaged prior to his pursuance of a career in wrestling._

"_We were engaged for a little over six months when he up and left me," the angry ex, Liz (last name not printed for her protection) states. "For her. We'd been together since our Junior year of high school."

* * *

_

"Are you kidding me?" Jessica exclaimed shrilly, dropping the last of the computer print outs and torn magazine pages onto the kitchen table in front of her boyfriend.

"Jess, you're getting worked up over nothing…" John tried to calm her down, placing a hand on her arm.

"Nothing?" she arched an eyebrow at him.

"It's harmless," he assured her, rubbing the skin lightly. "It's a couple of marriage rumors. It happens every day."

"Oh yeah?" Jessica challenged him and pointed to the top paper of the table. "Read."

John's sapphire orbs scanned over the red and white paper that had come from Star Magazine.

"Jessica McMahon-stealer?!?" she smacked her lips together sharply. "I know where that bitch lives… and I'm going to pay her a visit!"

She tore through the kitchen, then the hallway, her blonde hair trailing behind her angrily as she moved. Jessica grabbed her keys off of the table by the door, but found a pair of strong arms pulling her back.

"No, you're not."

The caramel blonde turned around and placed her hands on her hips as she stared up at her boyfriend, "Why in the hell not?"

"Because you don't need the tabloids reporting that you've been arrested for assault, either," John pointed out and held out his palm.

"Try murder," she mumbled and dropped the key ring into his awaiting hand.

"Thank you," he nodded and pocketed the clanging metal. "Now listen to me, this is easily taken care of."

"This isn't wrestling, John," Jessica huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, causing folds to appear on the sleeves of her deep chocolate sweater. "You can't just play Superman and make everything better."

"That's what PR people at the headquarters do," he countered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cell phone. "All we have to do is place a call."

Jessica snatched the phone out of his hand, "Give me that."

Quickly, she dialed in the number she wished she hadn't known by heart and waited until it picked up. Two rings later, a voice graced her ears.

"James Kaufman."

"James," she closed her eyes and bit her lip before speaking, "It's Jessica."

"Ah, Jessica," the man greeted her in an unexpectedly cheery tone, "I was wondering how long it would be before you called."

James was the brother of Edward L. Kaufman, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of World Wrestling Entertainment, and the head of the Public Relations Department. Truthfully, he wasn't qualified for the job by any means, but he was hired at the recommendation of his brother and had surprisingly done a great job thus far.

"So you've heard," she sighed noticeably.

"I don't live under a rock, Jessica," he chuckled slightly, but then cleared his throat sensing that she didn't find the situation too funny at all. "Alright, what would you like me to say?"

* * *

_**Not THAT kind of White Christmas**_

_Jessica McMahon and John Cena's rep, James Kaufman, has officially put to rest the rumors that have been swirling around since the day after Christmas._

"_Contrary to what has been reported, Jessica McMahon and John Cena are neither married, nor engaged. They were merely like-minded in their Christmas presents and chose to wear the rings on their left hands as a symbol of commitment, nothing more."

* * *

_

_**Perez Hilton's Official Verdict on McCena?**_

_Your honor: Not Married.

* * *

_

_**Good news, ladies. John Cena is still unmarried!**_

_But while he's not quite hitched, the odds of you beating out Jessica McMahon for that wedding ring are slim to none._

_However, a girl can dream, right?

* * *

_

_**Jessica's still on the market… kinda.**_

_It's official. The media blitz is over. _

_Jessica McMahon and John Cena are NOT married._

_And guys everywhere are celebrating with a beer.

* * *

_

_**Kind of disappointed? Perezzers thinks so too!**_

_Now that __**John Cena**__ and __**Jessica McMahon**__ have announced that they're not married, I'm a little let down. _

_They could have been the next __**Posh**__ and __**Becks**__!!! Don't you think so too?!?

* * *

_

"Look," John handed her a packet of magazine clip outs and internet gossip site articles, "The rumor mill has officially stopped running."

Jessica glanced down at a few of the articles, "You know, I got a call from my sister. Apparently, she's pissed that she wasn't invited to the wedding."

"Wow," John marveled and shook his head as he sat down to breakfast at the table. "Either it's those pregnancy hormones or she's just that stupid."

"Oh no…" his girlfriend replied as he took a swig of coffee from his mug. "She's just that stupid."

John let out a chuckle as he pierced a sausage link with his fork, "Sometimes I wonder how you two are from the same gene pool."

Jessica shrugged, "Same reason you and Steve are. Second time around is when you correct all of your mistakes."

* * *

"Are you sure you have to leave tomorrow?"

"Yeah," he nodded as she sat down across his lap and put her arms around his neck. "They've been hyping this First Blood match for weeks now."

"I could pull a few strings…" she trailed off and looked away from him. "Make a call or two."

"We'll save the option for another time," John assured and kissed her temple. "We'll save it for when you come back."

"Yeah, when I come back…" she allowed the sentence to die out.

John reached up and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, "You will be back, Jess."

Jessica scoffed at the prospect of her return, "Yeah… in JULY."

"It's better than not coming back at all."

In her heart, Jessica knew that he was right. In the beginning, no one was even sure that she'd return to the ring ever again, including Dr. Andrews. Now, it was almost certain that she would come back and reclaim the WWE Title that was rightfully hers.

"Come on," John egged her on, "You can say it."

She rolled her eyes and gave in, "You're right."

"Could you say that a little louder? I couldn't hear you."

"Want me to fix your ears so you'll never be able to hear anything ever again?" she cocked her head to the side and forced a smile.

* * *

_The Rebel's Release – 1/1/06_

_Happy New Year, everyone!_

_I must say, like the road to Wrestlemania, the days leading up to 2006 were quite interesting and eventful. I don't know how that crazy rumor got started about John and I getting married. Apparently, someone saw him at breakfast last week, with his college buddies Matt and Rob, wearing what I got him for Christmas. That was at least somewhat understandable._

_Once random jewelers and ex-girfriends who just can't let go of the past started coming out of the woodworks, it got a little out of hand. And just for the record, I did NOT steal John from anyone. Before we got together, both of us had not been in a relationship since 2001. We started dating in July 2005. Let's not neglect the fact that John is 28 years old and was a junior at 16 and 17. Considering he and his last ex-girlfriend (the nice synonym I chose in place of her name) broke up six years later, and generously calling him 17 at the time, that would make him 23 when they ended things. I can do the math. Can you?_

_Anyway, I'm gonna save the drama for my mama (which can be taken literally, considering whom my parents are) and move on._

_It was really great having everyone in West Newbury for Christmas, save Stephanie and Shane. However, after the babies are born, perhaps we'll all get together for another occasion. I hope that your Christmas was filled with family, friends, and laughter, a combination we often lack in our day to day operations._

_That all being said, I hope that you start 2006 off on a good foot and that this year brings happiness, health, and peace on Earth._

_Lots of Love,_

_Jessica

* * *

_

"Um… Earth to Jessica?" a voice interred the young woman's thoughts.

"What? Huh?" she looked up from the floor and locked eyes with her producer, Mike, on the other side of the glass.

"You need a break?" he asked her, sliding down a knob on the control board.

After a moment of contemplation, she shook her head, "Probably better that I don't."

A knowing smile crossed Mike's face and he looked up from the board, "Good. Cue music."

* * *

"Tough song to get through?" Mike asked her as she sat on the couch of the recording studio, picking at a Chinese food container with a pair of chopsticks. 

"Eh… I've been through worse," she shrugged and scooped a few noodles into her mouth.

He took a swig of coffee from the Starbucks cup in his hand, "Do you always do that?"

Her head tilted slightly to the side, "Do what?"

"Downplay your problems as a defense," he stated simply and leaned against the back of the plush chair.

"I don't downplay my problems…" she shook her head defensively.

"I'm not saying it's intentional, Jess," he waved her off. "You're just used to doing it. Don't get me wrong," he assured her and stood up, "A lot of young artists I've worked with have done the same. Maybe that's the reason you're not happy with the song…"

"I never said th-"

"You didn't have to. Seasoned vet here, remember?" he smiled at her and shook his head. "Look, you've got to stop thinking that your problems are so small compared to everyone else's… just for a little while anyway. You're allowed to feel that way every now and then. If you didn't, you wouldn't relate to half the songs on the radio. You've got the talent to be on the radio too," he walked to the door that led to the hallway and turned back to look at her, "You just… you just need to realize that sometimes it's okay to get lost in your own emotions."

* * *

Jessica sat back down on the other side of the glass, but instead of sitting down on a stool before a microphone, she sat down at the piano. 

Mike didn't miss a beat, "Someone get in there and ring up a piano mic."

After a minute or so, an audio technician emerged from the room and the tape began rolling.

The words had emerged from her mouth thirty or forty times before, colliding with the strings on her guitar, and getting lost somewhere in between. Somewhere along the line, they'd lost their emotion.

But as her fingers swept across the keys of the piano, channeling the spirit of her grandmother who had sat her down on countless afternoons during her childhood and let the music find her, it had never felt so right.

This time… this time the words rolled off of her tongue and hung in the air for what seemed like ages.

The notes still lingered in the airwaves when Jessica heard a click and a voice crackle over the intercom.

"That's a wrap on 'Gravity.' I think that's enough for today."

* * *

"Hey, Jess," Mike called to her as she exited the studio only to be met with the Boston cold. 

"Yeah?" she turned back in his direction, wrapping her coat tighter around her body.

"Here," he thrust at her a copy of Rolling Stone. "You might want to take a look at page fifty-three. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright. Bye," she waved at his disappearing form quizzically.

Thumbing through the pages, she turned to number fifty three.

_**Are You Ready for the Rebel? We are. **_

_By Michael Jacobs_

_When Clive Davis announced he had signed World Wrestling Entertainment's number one Diva, Jessica McMahon, many of Rolling Stone's writers, including myself, thought he had gone senile. Hell, we thought it was a joke, much like John Cena's rap album, 'You Can't See Me.'_

_Turns out… the joke's on us._

_Through a source I cannot identify, I have managed to come across a few rough cuts of some of her material from her album, most likely dropping in March, and surprisingly, I have to say… color me impressed._

_The songs I have somehow procured include 'Not That Far,' a song that while destined for pop radio, brings a killer guitar riff and combines it with a distortion-triggered hook that Radiohead wishes they'd followed 'Creep" up with, 'Bottle It Up,' an easy-listening song that is deliciously profane, and an incredibly rough cover of the Pixies' 'Where is My Mind,' which I am intrigued to hear once the kinks are worked out._

_Overall, it is because of these three submitted songs that I can't help but name Jessica McMahon… our artist to watch for 2006.

* * *

_

**A/N: I hope you like this chapter. It's a little different than what I normally write, a little media-driven, but I thought that was unique and sometimes funny. I hope at least some of you like to read Perez Hilton and got some of my references. Haha.**

**Holler at my reviewers who got me to ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS:**

**Sweetortonlover86 – **Um. I would. End of story.

**Animal-Luvr-89 – **I wrote some more jokes for this one, too! God, I love sarcasm!!!

**Lil-miss-wrestling-fan – **Me too, but I already have a puppy… a chocolate Labrador (wonder where Jess's puppy came from…hmm) and at eighty pounds of puppy, she's quite enough for me to handle.

**JCEdgeRKO – **Ask and you shall receive!

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – **I got the shirt! I got the shirt! I got the shirt! AND the DVD! But no poster. Sadly, my mother would burn it. Just wait til I get to college… he'd be afraid to step into my room!

**Nic-002001 – **Yeah, McCena liked the rings too… until everyone went around screaming "CHRISTMAS WEDDING!" Kind of puts a buzz kill on the leftover holiday spirit.

**Da-Real-Mrz-Cena1002100 – **I'm glad you liked this one. I actually do own the winding ivy ring. I bought it at Kohl's, but it's silver.

**Goddessofthenite – **Really? Not the Webkinz. For shame.

**I'm.Totally.Fxcking.Awesome – **Julia will vouch for me on this one, I will out bench your you-know-what any day of the week. I may be injured, but I still have one good knee. And thank you!

**Candace – **Yes, you can. Because I don't want it. Tom Brady is a pretty boy. There! I said it!

**Pr0udpnaii x33 – **Wow! New reader! Welcome! And thank you for your praise. I can't imagine reading 32 chapters of a story in a single day. I might go blind… or pass out… but clearly you did not. Happy Holidays to you too!

**And with that, I satisfactorily (yes, that's a word) conclude Chapter 12 of She's a Rebel II. For the record, I am so impressed with the amount of reviews that have been flowing in for the last few chapters, keep up the great work.**

**The _My Life_ DVD happened to be awesome and as my friend, Julia, can attest to, I was able to rattle off stats of the cars in John's collection like it was nothing! And no, not the ones that were in the graphics, I mean the ones that were post drag pack and such… in horsepower.**

**If that doesn't make me John Cena's perfect woman, I don't know what does.**

**Except, well… maybe that "Cena pinned me shirt," but I like to wear shirts that are true. So… look for me around April. I turn eighteen then. Hehe.**

**Anyway, have a very Happy New Year and may 2008 bring you all of the luck and happiness in the world! AND MORE JOHN CENA!**

**Danielle**


	13. Chapter 13

_The Rebel's Release – 2/16/06_

_Hello again, everyone! I hope that you all had a good Valentine's Day and ate a lot of chocolate! I know I did! Honestly, it's the one day I don't feel really guilty about eating chocolate._

_John and I had a nice dinner out at an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood. I guess the benefit of living in such a small town is that you can go out, be recognized, and no one really cares. Can't do that in New York City, now can we?_

_Ahh, West Newbury. How I love it._

_In fact, I'm sad to leave here tomorrow morning. I'm doing some promotional work on the new album down in Florida and we figured we'd take a mini vacation to the Tampa house. I swear, I haven't been there in FOREVER and I am really starting to miss the warm weather. Originally, the plan was that I'd head down there for a while once it got cold and icy up here, but I didn't want to leave my rehab center, nor did I want to leave my friends and family either._

_Oh… and speaking of the new album, I don't believe that I officially announced the name of my new album! Drum roll please…_

_SONGS UNDER THE INFLUENCE!_

_No, I was not drunk or high when I wrote this album. In fact, I was entirely sober. It was just that I was dealing with a lot of crap in my life. I think that I was just under the influence of so many different emotions and the events that had caused them that I was inspired to write most of the material that I did. Subsequently, I thought this was an appropriate title._

_On a much lighter note, I'll be visiting an old friend of mine in a few days, taking a quick flight down the coast, and I will update you very soon on his recent happenings and upcoming schedule. FINALLY, we'll get to see what he's up to._

_That's all for now, everyone!_

_Much love,_

_Jessica

* * *

_

"You ready, baby?" John asked his girlfriend at the front door.

"Mhmm," she nodded and zipped up her computer case. "Is the car packed up?"

"Yep, the Range Rover is locked and loaded," he chuckled and opened the door for her to pass through.

"Good," she smiled as he locked the door and she slid into the passenger's seat.

Soon, John joined her in the vehicle and they were on their way to the airport.

"You must be happy to get away," Jessica pointed out as they pulled onto the interstate.

"Yeah," he agreed with her statement, "You know I only had one car the last time you were there in July. You haven't seen the new lot yet."

Jessica laughed at the excited grin on his face as he changed lanes, "You want to get another one, don't you?"

He bobbed his head up and down in response, "Yep."

"Men and their cars," she shook her head at him.

"Yeah, well… you have three sitting at the house here," he countered defensively.

"John…" Jessica rolled her eyes, "I got one when I was seventeen, the second one is my plaything, and the third one is my everyday car."

John smirked over at her suggestively, "I thought I was your plaything."

She fought to suppress the smile playing on her glossy lips, "You're fucking impossible."

* * *

The taxi cab pulled up to the front of the palm-tree shadowed house and John immediately hopped out to pull the luggage from the trunk. After Jessica slid out as well, he handed the driver his money and tip before he sped off.

"It's nicer than I remember," she stated with a smile as she looked over the house.

"Well, you did decorate it somewhat," John laughed, pulling a large wheeling piece of luggage as he stepped in front of her. "And I think it's just the fact that the sun's out."

Jessica shrugged as she trailed him with her own luggage, "Maybe. It's still nice to be home."

"Yeah, it is," he agreed and pulled the keys to the house from his pocket to open the door. A minute later, he pushed open the linen white front door, "Welcome home."

She followed him through the door, her blonde hair waving behind her, and she closed her eyes as the cool air conditioning hit her skin, "Ahh. I forgot what it's like to need air conditioning."

John chuckled at her, "That's the benefit of having two houses, you know."

"And the benefit of having two sets of cars," she added, pushing down the handle on the suitcase.

"You're really dying to see those cars, aren't you?" John shook his head and laughed heartily.

"Did you not realize how many of the cars from magazines I was showing you?"

"No, I just remember what you _wouldn't_ show me on the plane," he soured.

Jessica sighed and rolled her eyes, "We just went through a whole Christmas scandal. I'd prefer not to have my face on every magazine across the country, yet again… thank you."

A smirk crossed his lips and he ran a hand along side her cheek, "But it's such a pretty face."

"Flattery will get you no where, asshole," she replied, smacking his hands away.

He stuck his tongue out at her, "You're no fun, Jess. You want to be this way? Fine… let's go for a ride…" he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her towards the kitchen, which led to the garage.

Jessica locked her hand onto, but not quite around his much larger forearm and ground the heels of her black Chuck Taylor's into the floor.

"Number one… don't pull me," she informed him with a smoldering glare that soon warped into a smile, "Number two… chicks dig fast cars," Jessica added before he dropped her wrist. "Remember that."

John couldn't help but smile… maybe he would get lucky after all.

* * *

"You ready?" the muscular man asked her from the driver's seat, looking over at her with a mischievous grin.

Jessica returned the smirk and adjusted her seatbelt as they stopped at the end of their street, "Let's ride."

Almost immediately, John's right hand shifted forward and he slammed his foot to the gas pedal of his maroon 2006 Dodge Viper Pickup, causing the car to leap forward.

A smile sprung to Jessica's face as her head briefly stuck to the headrest behind her. She hadn't done this with John in years.

* * *

"_Seriously, Cena… slow the fuck down!"_

_The muscular football player grinned as he shifted gears, "Go faster? Okay."_

_With a lurch, the car went even faster._

"_John!" Jessica screamed shrilly. "I'd really prefer not to die at seventeen years old!"_

"_Come on, Jess," he shook his head, switching gears once again and accelerating. "Take a walk on the wild side."

* * *

_

"I'm surprised you haven't thrown up yet," John marveled from the driver's side as they veered off at an exit on I-95.

"I do own a motorcycle, you know," she retorted with a smirk. "I'm not afraid of speed anymore."

With his eyes still glued to the road, he grinned again with a shake of the head, "So much for having an angel on my right."

"You've only got a devil beside you just this once," she corrected him. "Just for tonight."

"Alright," he nodded and held his hand out for her. Immediately, she placed her hand in his. "Just for tonight."

* * *

_Her nails dug into the fabric of the armrests, "I think you're doing enough of that for the both of us right now."_

_John's sapphire eyes rolled noticeably as the car began slowing down, "Okay, fine. Party pooper."_

"_John, I'm serious," her tone turned solid. "Please, slow down."_

"_Oh, stop it… nothing is going to happen to you."_

"_You're going a hundred miles an hour in a fifty," Jessica shrieked loudly over the radio. "Don't you think that's a bit much?!?"_

"_No."_

"_This is how people get into accidents, John. And I'm in the death seat!!!"_

"_Jessica, I'd take the hit before I'd ever let anything happen to you."

* * *

_

"It's up here," John informed her as they weaved in and out of traffic.

"What's up here?" she tilted her head to the side.

Suddenly, the car drifted sideways and they found themselves at a screeching halt in front of a Dodge dealership.

"This," he replied, throwing the car in park. "Come on…"

John exited the vehicle and Jessica followed suit as she heard the car lock beside her.

"Why are we here?" she asked him as he linked his hand with hers.

"Well for starters," John laughed, "I think I just smoked my tires out."

"Mr. Cena!" a voice greeted him from the door and the couple looked ahead to find a short man with black hair and glasses walking towards them.

"Greg, nice to see you," he greeted the man, shaking hands with his left. "This is my girlfriend, Jessica."

"Ms. McMahon," Greg extended a gold-watch adorned hand to the young woman, which she gladly shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"You too," she smiled politely, still confused as to their purpose in the building.

"Now, if you'd kindly follow me this way," Greg smiled at them and walked to the opposite end of the showroom, where they made a quick left into a stairwell.

Jessica leaned in close to her boyfriend and whispered, "Baby, do you know where we're going?"

"Ahh! Here we are!" their guide concluded as they came to an office at the end of the stairs.

Quickly, the blonde woman surveyed the area she quickly surmised was Greg's office.

The windows behind his luxurious, cherry maple desk were tinted, most likely so he could only see out and no one could see in. There were neatly stacked papers, what looked to be a golden desk plate that read _Greg Caulfield_, and numerous bookshelves with binders and hardcover books.

"Please," the man gestured ahead of him to the leather chairs in front of his desk. "Have a seat."

After the couple walked into the office, he followed suit and sat in the high-backed swivel chair before them.

"Now," he clasped his hands together in front of him, "What can I help you with today, Mr. Cena? Ms. McMahon?"

"Looking to add another car to my collection," John announced proudly, folding his right leg over his left.

"Any ideas as to which model you are looking for?" Caulfield asked curiously, most likely adding the dollar signs in his head.

The younger man played into the dealership owner's innocent act, "I believe you have a classic car on your hands. I'd like to take it off of them."

He nodded knowingly, "The '66 Charger."

"The '66 Charger," he repeated. "And, as you know, one of my good friends was over here a few weeks back to take a look at the car for me."

"Yes, he was."

"And I think your asking price is incredibly fair," John nodded and shrugged. "So if you could draw up the paperwork…"

The smarmy man opened up a drawer of his desk and pulled out two packets of paper, then dropped them on the desk in front of John and handed him a pen.

"Already drawn," Greg replied with an incredibly fake smile.

John took the black pen from his grasp and leaned over the desk, "Okay then."

Jessica shook her head and then laughed at her boyfriend's over-eagerness when an interesting piece on the desk caught her eye.

Reaching out, she lightly ran a hand over the yellow and black metal structure.

Greg beamed proudly as he caught her reaction, "Our 2007 Dodge Charger Super Bee…"

"SR eight," she finished for him and continued to marvel at the miniature model. "Classic Detonator Yellow, only one thousand made in the model year. Says here this is number 949."

"It most certainly is," he agreed with her and leaned back in his chair as John finished the first packet of papers.

Jessica looked up at him, "This one yours?"

"Something like that," he answered with a smile, leaving the young woman feeling a bit uneasy.

"This car is a beast," she sighed in absolute marvel. "Six piston caliber brakes, custom suede interior, two tone stitching, leather contrast…" her head shot up. "Entertainment Group THREE?!?"

"I must say, Mr. Cena," Greg shook his head in complete surprise, "Your girl knows her stuff."

"She most certainly does," he nodded, signing the last line of the second packet. "All finished."

"Right, may I please look at that?" the owner asked and John slid the paper over to him for review.

"How did you hear about the '66 charger?" Jessica asked him out of curiosity.

"One of my old college buddies lives down here and came in to get his Charger serviced. He was talking to one of the mechanics about the roots of the Charger and he mentioned that there was a classic one that had just come in. Of course, he called me to tell me and of course, I wanted to buy it," John shrugged, while she sat unsurprised by his comments.

"You are such a guy."

"Um… thank you?"

"Alright, everything is set," Greg smiled at them and they rose from their seats. "Will you be taking home the '66 today?"

"Yes," John laughed. "I burned out my tires on the Viper Pickup getting here, so I'll leave that overnight and pick it up tomorrow."

"Okay then, I'll meet you downstairs?"

"Sure," John nodded and allowed Jessica to walk through the door.

"Ms. McMahon, do you mind if I speak to you for a moment?" Greg called to her, standing at his desk.

"Um… sure," she replied and looked at John.

"It's cool… I'll meet you downstairs."

As she watched John disappear down the stairs, she sighed.

_Don't leave me alone with him!_

"Can I help you with something, Greg?"

"Oh, no… I just wanted to give you something," he laughed and smiled at her.

"Really?" she asked him politely, surprised on the inside.

"Yeah," he reached for the Super Bee model on the desk and then held it out to her. "Here."

"Greg, I can't take this from you," she tried to push it away from her, but he refused.

"Yes you can. I'm sure I'll have others…" he assured her and walked around the desk to place the scale model firmly in her hand. "Plus, this one's yours."

It nearly slid from her hands completely as her hazel eyes widened, "This one's mine?!?"

"Yes," he laughed at her reaction. "This one's yours. I'm sorry for acting so weird before, but Mr. Cena wanted to keep it a surprise."

"John?" she looked down at the floor and laughed incredulously.

"Yeah," Greg smiled at her as she walked to the other side of his desk towards the window. "He called last month and told me to have it here, in stock and ready to go, for this week. Well, that and to have the '66 Charger put on hold for him… you've got one hell of a boyfriend, Ms. McMahon."

Jessica beamed out of the tinted window down at John below, waiting for the car outside of the front doors, and shook her head at how lucky she really was, "Yeah. I do, don't I?"

* * *

"John!"

The tall, muscular man turned around at the pleasant sound of his girlfriend's voice.

_God, I love the sound of her voice when she's happy._

"You bought me a Super Bee?" she asked him in marvel, a smile seeming etched permanently on her face as she approached him.

He nodded with a grin, "Yeah."

"You bought me a freaking Super Bee?!?!?" Jessica repeated brightly, rapidly closing the distance between them.

His grin grew wider as she grew closer, "Yeah."

Jessica ran walked as briskly as she could towards him and jumped into his arms, hugging his neck tightly, "Thank you!"

John pulled back his head and pressed his lips to hers briefly, "You deserve it, Jess. Plus, my baby's got to have a styling car to roll around Tampa in… especially when the cops finally decide to suspend my license and I need a kick ass car to be driven around in."

"I don't care why the hell you did it! It's a fucking Super Bee!" she exclaimed again and kissed him again.

* * *

"Come on, Cena," Jessica goaded him on as she passed the '66 Charger, which had formerly been on her left. "Show me what you got."

"Don't tease me, baby," his voice crackled over the speaker of her cell phone as he sped up to meet her on her left side.

Her hand reached down and shifted the gears as she veered right off of I-95 and onto an exit.

"It's only a tease if I don't follow through on it," she retorted with a smirk, checking her rear-view to see him on her tail.

After a few more turns, he was right beside her on the street he had burned tracks into numerous times.

* * *

_A few moments later, they slid into the well-skid marked parking space they shared for the year._

"_See?" she smiled curtly at him as she opened the car door and looked over the roof. "Isn't it nice to arrive somewhere alive?"

* * *

_

They both halted side by at the end of the street.

"You can't smoke me on this street, Jess," John informed her over the phone. "I've been speeding on this thing for years."

Jessica rolled her eyes, "Baby, I could do it backwards."

"Yeah," he scoffed at her. "Okay. On three. One."

"Two."

"Three!" he yelled and both gas pedals were floored, leaving the smell of burning rubber in their wake.

But a few moments after darting ahead, Jessica shifted gears rapidly and the car spun around before driving towards the end of the street again…

… in reverse.

Quickly, she passed John and backed into their driveway, exiting the car just in time to see John's new toy pull in, as well.

"What the fuck was that?" John's eyes were wide as he stepped out of the car and shut the door. "When did you learn to do that?"

His girlfriend shrugged innocently, "Not sure. But, isn't it nice to arrive home alive and in one piece?"

"Baby," he laughed as he passed her and headed for the front door, "I never felt more alive than the moment I broke one hundred."

Jessica froze and she whipped her head around, her caramel locks following her, "What did you say?"

* * *

"_Jess," he shook his head and laughed as he swung his backpack over his right shoulder, "I never felt more alive than the moment I broke one hundred."

* * *

_

**A/N: Sorry this took so long… but I really really wanted a triple update!!!!**

**This chapter is a little fluffy, but I think it's kind of fun. I like this one a lot.**

**I LOVE:**

**Pr0udpnaii x33 – **Liz might pop up again in the future. While I'm not entirely sure that it will be in the remainder of She's a Rebel II, she will definitely make numerous appearances in She's a Rebel III. That's right… there's a third.

**Animal-Luvr-89 – **Woo! A fellow Perezzers lover! Cool!

**I'm.Totally.Fxcking.Awesome – **Number one, I am seventeen. So technically, I'm a minor too. There goes that defense. How old did you actually think I was?!? And while I could absolutely wreck you on my own now that I'm allowed to leg press again… with Julia involved, so would your death. So let's bury the hatchet… and enjoy each other's stories, shall we? Hopefully, you haven't delved into teenage depression by now.

**Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 – **Wow! I tricked you! Cool! I hope you didn't have to wait too long for this one!!!

**JCEdgeRKO – **I know, I know. I wouldn't complain either… but their relationship is still kind of new. Oh… and I'm glad you think that John and I are made for each other, lol. We'll see how that one turns out. Let me work on my prom date first, haha.

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – **She's probably doing that riiiihggghhhttt now as you read this. And rightfully so.

**JeffHardyFan02 – **Sarcasm is your first language?!? Oh my God… it's mine too! Um, it's totally worth it… you really must get the DVD. And God knows I wish I could meet John, but unfortunately due to my status as a minor, along with my inability to come up with a: a person to go with Raw to me once he returns and b: come up with a good excuse as to where I really am to my mother. Tell me more about John in person!!!!!!!!!!

**Chain Gang Princess – **I'm working on getting that next. It'll have to be after he comes back from his injury… I'll be legal by then. Just kidding. Or am I? Mwaaahhh! (I really am)

**Candace – **I'm a Jersey girl and Giants fan. So you can gladly take them. I hope you like this chapter as well!

**Nic-002001 – **I really like McCena, too. Believe me, there will be some more articles coming up soon… especially since Jess's album release is!

**Goddessofthenite – **Like that's a question that I _actually_ need to answer. And I know this is long overdue, by the way.

**Dj-ssdd – **I was worried about you! But I'm glad you're back!

**Miniature-hero – **I was worried about you, as well! I hope your holidays were fantastic, as well!

**So this concludes another chapter of She's a Rebel II. A few hints for the upcoming chapter.**

**1 – They're still in Florida and the visit to the "friend" is coming up in the next chapter.**

**2 – Her first single is going to drop.**

**And two big announcements:**

**I have finally come up with the entire plot, beginning to end, for She's a Rebel III… AND…**

**Part of She's a Rebel IV… if you guys are interested in that, of course.**

**There's probably something like seven or eight chapters left in SAR II, so be prepared!!! The you know what is about to hit the fan in Jess's life and the story should start skipping around a lot**

**Oh and by the way, did anyone see Hardy's Whisper in the Wind off of the top of the steel cage? WTF?!?!**

**Even RANDY ORTON couldn't fake that expression. That was ridiculous.**

**So this chapter is dedicated, oddly enough, to Jeff Hardy for his insanity in the ring!**

**Read and review as always!**

**Danielle**


	14. Chapter 14

Jessica smoothed down the hem of her navy blue Lacoste Polo as she exited her brand new 2007 Dodge Charger Super Bee, handing the keys to the valet.

Despite the six hour drive down the coast, passing her reflection in the window of the restaurant, she noticed that her caramel waves were still smooth and intact.

Immediately, upon entering the upscale café, the hostess recognized the young woman and led her over to a reserved table in the middle of the restaurant.

"Can I get you something to drink, Ms. McMahon?" the thirty-something blonde asked her politely and handed her a menu.

"I'll just take some water," Jessica replied with a sweet smile. "Thank you."

The woman nodded and left her to look over the menu.

"Look at you… in a polo shirt… all prim and proper. My little rebel's all grown up," a deep voice noted, causing her to look up from the list.

As her hazel eyes lifted from the menu impulsively, a slow smile spread across her lips as she caught sight of the half-Samoan man standing in front of her for the first time in almost three years.

"Hey, I'm still wearing my jeans," Jessica countered as she rose to her feet in a pair of black platform sandals and gestured to her dark blue jeans. "See?"

He looked down at her hands and let out a hearty laugh, "You're still all grown up… and this might truly be the first time I've noticed."

Jessica approached him and wrapped her arms around his torso, covered by a white button down shirt, "I've missed you, Dwayne… a lot."

"I've missed you too, Jess, he replied, wrapping his arms around her in kind. "Come on, take a seat… people are staring."

"Right," she nodded and let go, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she sat. "I've forgotten what the Miami cuisine is like, it's been so long…"

"I, for one, am shocked and appalled," Dwayne laughed, opening his menu. "Can you still speak Spanish?"

Jessica arched an eyebrow at him in response.

"I'll take that as a yes… wait a second. That's my move!"

"Just like old times," Jessica let out a laugh and closed her menu.

"Yeah… except you're not sporting the crazy-colored hair," Dwayne added, following suit.

A moment later, the waitress arrived and took their orders, briefly returning with Dwayne's iced tea before disappearing yet again.

"You really have grown up, Jess."

"Thank you," she nodded. "It's been a wild ride."

"Yeah… so where's Loverboy?" he teased her. "I'm surprised he didn't come down here too."

"He had some plans with one of his friends," Jessica shrugged and took a sip of water. "I was probably better off. Honestly, he would have wanted to drive and we would have gotten pulled over at least six times before we got here."

"Damn," Dwayne shook his head in marvel. "Your insurance rates must suck."

"Mine doesn't, his does," she informed him with a wry smile. "We won't share insurance until we're married."

"Always the smart girl," he nodded. "So… when _are_ you getting married?"

"You sound like my sister… and Perez Hilton," she laughed. "The answer is that I don't know."

Now it was Dwayne's turn to arch an eyebrow.

"Here we go," she rolled her eyes at him. "I remember how this goes…"

"You mean to tell me that you haven't talked about it?"

"We have, I swear," Jessica assured him. "But we haven't even been together for a year yet. I don't want to be one of those girls who picks out her own ring and knows when it's coming. I'm a spontaneous kind of girl, you know that. I'll leave it up to John."

After pondering for a moment, Dwayne spoke again, "Us guys… well, we could wait forever."

"I've already waited twenty years for him, I'll wait forever if I have to," Jessica replied simply and then adjusted the napkin on her lap. "Now, enough about my marriage, which hasn't even happened yet… let's talk about your marriage. How's Dani?"

"She's doing well," he nodded with a smile as their food arrived. "Keeping me in line, as always."

"Good, good. How's her firm going?"

"Very well, actually," he grinned. "JDM Partners is one of the top wealth-management firms in all of Florida."

"Wow, that's impressive," Jessica nodded. "And how's my amazing Goddaughter?"

Dwayne let out a laugh, "Amazing. Simone's keeping me on my toes… as it should be. She misses her Auntie Jess, though."

"And I miss her too," the girl's Godmother confirmed. "Did she get my Valentine's Day present?"

"She most certainly did… and Mommy and Daddy finished it off yesterday," Dwayne chuckled and smiled brightly, flashing his set of white teeth.

"You and Dani finished off a five pound chocolate kiss? By yourselves?!?"

"Well, we finished what was left of it," he admitted. "We had Tonga… you remember Haku… and his boys over… Tevita, Pate, and Taula. The four of them had a blast with that thing. It was down to a few normal sized chocolate kisses by last night."

"Wow."

"You should come over and visit her later," Dwayne suggested. "Seriously, you sound like you've been out of practice."

"Excuse me," she put her hand over her chest in a mock wound. "I have four other godchildren, John's nieces and nephews, to keep me on my toes. And they live relatively close to me, not to mention the fact that there's a set of triplets in the mix… thank you very much."

"But Simone was first."

"And don't tell anyone this," she leaned into him and then looked around, "But she's my favorite."

* * *

John knocked on the door of his friend, Rob's, house which he shared with his girlfriend. As he waited for him to answer, he shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his left leg. 

A minute later, the door pulled open and Rob stood before him, "What's up, man?"

"Nothing much," John shook his head as he embraced his friend. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah…" he trailed off looking down at the floor. "About that…"

John sighed, "What now?"

"Kasey wants to come."

"Oh man," the larger man whined, "It was just supposed to be us this time. You know that she can never keep her mouth shut for more than… oh, hi, Kasey."

"Hey, John," the young and peppy, short-haired blonde smiled at him from beside her boyfriend. "You guys ready?"

John forced a cheesy smile, "I'll be waiting in the truck."

"Rob, you go with John," Kasey waved the man with the buzzed hair onward. "I'll be right out. I just want to run upstairs and change my jeans… I got some paint on them before."

"Okay, baby," Rob smiled back at her and followed John to his 2006 Dodge Viper Pickup.

* * *

"You know I've been hearing nonstop about this album of yours…" Dwayne informed her as they waited for their respective cars. "Any chance I'll get to hear it before it drops?" 

Jessica reached into her pocketbook and produced a copy of her album, "I'd say there's a good chance you will."

"Always prepared," he mused as his Cadillac STS appeared in front of the restaurant, which was soon followed by Jessica's Super Bee.

"Just like old times…" Jessica shrugged.

"Nice car… when did you buy it?" he asked her curiously.

"I didn't buy it, Loverboy did," she chuckled in response as they both tipped the valets.

"John got this for you? When?" he questioned her, impressed by her boyfriend's actions, and opened his car door.

"Yep. He surprised me with it yesterday," Jessica smiled proudly.

"He gets some major points for that one. So you'll follow me down?"

"Yeah," Jessica nodded.

"I'm sure you'll have no problem keeping up," he laughed.

Jessica shook her head and opened her own door, "Never do."

The half-Samoan watched as the blonde got in her car and shut the door, taking that as his signal to do the same.

Instinctively, he shut his car door and placed his hands on the steering wheel.

"_Hey there, Rocky," the twenty-two year old blonde smiled. "You good for our match tonight?"_

"_The Rock is always good."

* * *

_

"_Jess," the tanned man looked up at the pacing twenty-three year old. "Stop that."_

"_What?" she glanced across the room at him. "Oh, sorry."_

"_Just calm down," The Rock laughed at her antics. "You're going to be fine. No Diva can stop you. Come on, I'll escort you down…"

* * *

_

_The Rock entered the dressing room he shared with his twenty-four year old girlfriend and smiled as he caught sight of her in a pair of shredded jeans and a "Just Bring It" tank top, "Hey."_

"_Hey yourself," Jessica smirked at him, her auburn hair cascading down her shoulders as she stretched._

"_You ready?" he asked her, leaning against the wall._

"_Mhmm," she nodded and stood up, walking over to drag her finger along the neckline of his matching shirt. "Are you?"_

"_Baby," he smirked and kissed her for a moment, leaving her breathless after he had pulled away. "The Rock is ALWAYS ready."

* * *

_

_The twenty-five year old Jessica McMahon looked up at him with sad eyes, "I guess this is it, huh?"_

"_Yeah," Dwayne nodded sadly. "This is it."_

"_I can't believe it," she shook her head and bit her lip._

"_Look, Jess," he approached her and pulled over a steel chair, "I know it's gonna be hard. It's going to be equally as hard on me, but you're my best friend and I don't want to see you hurting," he sighed and sat down in the backwards chair. "I know that since you've been here, you haven't made a ton of friends. Really, it's always been just you, me, and occasionally Paul. Please, just try and talk to some other people, I mean… Amy and Matt still love you," he smiled at her and glanced at the clock. "They'll be here any minute. You… you know what it's like to be green, to know nothing. I hope that I've taught you everything you need to know in this business."_

"_You have," she finally managed to speak up, "I've learned everything from you."_

"_Then please," Dwayne continued, "Take one of the rookies under your wing, pass it on to one of them."_

"_How… how will I know who to choose?" Jessica asked him out of confusion._

"_You'll just know, Jess… as I just knew that I was meant to teach you. Too many people come through these doors, expecting the world and receiving nothing in return. You're an incredible wrestler, better than many of the guys I've worked with. You're one of my greatest accomplishments in life. I only wish you could feel the same way someday."_

_Jessica wiped away the tears from her eyes as the production crew entered._

"_Alright, we're all set for you two… you ready for this?"_

_Both of them nodded as the light went red for the last time.

* * *

_

"_We've got a lot of momentum heading into Summerslam," Jessica informed her boyfriend, "But I think if we win this match tonight, it'll give us just the push we need."_

_The Rock patted the championship belt over his right shoulder and raised a suggestive eyebrow, "You're all the push that I need."_

_A blush crept up her cheeks, "Stop it."_

_He let out a hearty laugh, "So, you'll follow me down?"_

"_Yeah," she agreed with a nod._

"_Good," he replied with a nod of his own and opened the door. "I'm sure you'll have no problem keeping up."_

_A smug grin spread across the blonde beauty's face as she stepped through the door, "Never do." _

"Yeah, Jess," he commented to no one in particular and shift the car into drive, "Just like old times."

* * *

"Painting?" John asked as they slid into the car.

Rob nodded and laughed, "Her new hobby."

"How's that going?"

"Not too well," his friend rolled his eyes. "She's ruining my carpeting, man."

"Not surprised," the blue eyed man shrugged.

"So…"

"So…"

"Are you mad at me?" Rob turned to him and asked.

John bounced his knee at the wheel, holding back his temper, "Yep."

Rob shook his head and laughed as Kasey appeared near the car, "I'm not too worried. You'll forget about all this in four or five months anyway."

* * *

"Dani!" Dwayne's voice echoed throughout the house. "I'm home." 

"And I'm working!" a loud, feminine voice answered back.

"But I've got something I think you'll want to see…"

"Alright, alright!" she relented and the audible shuffling of papers could be heard overhead. "I'm coming."

"Is she always like this?" Jessica snickered.

"Yep, always giving me a hard time," he shook his head. "Damn woman."

She rolled her eyes as the footsteps shifted from overhead to her left, "Just don't let her hear you talk like that."

"Dwayne, what do you want… oh my God!" Dani yelled in shock and ran towards her friend. "Jessica!"

"Hey, Dani!" Jessica laughed as she embraced her friend. "Long time, no see."

"Too long," the older woman agreed as she pulled away.

"How've you been?"

"Busy, but good. It's hard balancing motherhood and a career, but oh well. I love it!"

"As you should," her friend smiled.

"You know what," a grin spread across her face, "Simone got home from preschool an hour ago. I'm sure she'd love to see her Aunt Jessie. I'll go wake her up."

"You really don't have to…"

"Come on, Jess. She's been dying to see you, I'll get her," she assured her and retreated back up the stairs.

"I have to warn you, she's grown up a lot too," Dwayne cautioned her lightheartedly.

"The last time I saw her she was just starting to talk in sentences."

"And now she won't shut up…"

"Look who I've got," Dani announced upon her return downstairs, carrying a small child in her arms. "Simone…"

"Mommy…" the child whined. "I was sleeping!"

"Simone, look who's here…" she cooed to her still sleepy daughter and placed her on the ground.

The child turned around and caught sight of her godmother across the room, "Aunt Jessie?"

"Mhmm," her godmother smiled at her and nodded.

"Aunt Jessie!" the girl exclaimed brightly and ran over, locking her arms around Jessica's legs.

"Hey, Simonie Spumoni," she laughed and picked the girl up into her arms. "How've you been?"

"I'm good," Simone giggled. "But I'm a little mad today."

"You're mad?" she scrunched her nose at the preschooler. "Why are you mad?"

"Because a bunch of my friends came over and ate a lot of the chocolate kiss you gave me for Valentine's Day!" the girl cried. "And then Mommy and Daddy ate the rest of my kiss without telling me."

"Sweetie, it's not nice to tattle on anyone, especially your Mommy and Daddy. I'm sure that Mommy and Daddy wouldn't…" she began, but then stopped abruptly when she noticed Dani wincing and shaking her head across the room. "Alright, tell you what… how about I take you out and we get you a new chocolate kiss?"

"Can we, Mommy?" Simone wriggled free from Jessica to the floor. "Please? Please?"

"I don't know…" Dani trailed off warily and then finally gave in. "Oh, alright. Jess, just take it easy on the sweets, okay?"

* * *

"I want these too!" Simone exclaimed joyfully as she moved down the length of the sundae bar, her godmother trailing behind her. 

"Go for it girl," Jessica instructed her playfully.

"But didn't Mommy tell you that I can't have too much sugar?" she asked the older woman curiously.

"What Mommy doesn't know won't hurt her, Simone," she whispered to the child. "I won't tell if you don't."

"I won't!" Simone assured her. "I triple pinky swear… wait. I only have two pinkies…"

Jessica outstretched an arm and held out her hand, "Mine makes three. Alright, that's it then… triple pinky swear?"

The preschooler nodded intently, "Triple pinky swear."

* * *

After a long drive back to Tampa, Jessica pulled into the driveway of the house she shared with John and turned the key in the ignition, followed by the headlights. 

With a deep sigh, she leaned her head against the steering wheel in complete and total exhaustion. Briefly she glanced at the digital clock on her dashboard, which read three a.m., and peeled herself out of the car.

After rubbing her eyes, Jessica trudged up the sidewalk and opened the door to let herself into the house.

Immediately upon entering, she noticed that the downstairs lights were on, but chalked it up to John falling asleep upstairs without turning them off. However, once she reached the end of the hallway and arrived in the family room, she was quite surprised to find her boyfriend sitting on the brown leather couch, watching "Anchorman" for the millionth time.

"Hey, baby," Jessica greeted him as she entered the room. "Why are you up so late?"

John shrugged at her, "I was waiting up for you. How was your day?"

"Pretty good," she nodded with a weak smile. "How 'bout yours?"

"It was great until Kasey tagged along," he rolled his eyes at the thought.

"Oooh…" Jessica winced. "Harsh."

John let out a half-hearted laugh, "Yeah, tell me about it. How was Dwayne… and Dani and Simone?"

"They're good… really good, actually."

"That's good to hear," John replied sincerely. "How are you doing?"

"Well, I was great…" she sighed and then bit her lip. "Until I got a very angry phone call from Dani on the way home about sugaring up Simone. Now, I'm just tired," she added, flopping down on the couch, her head grazing the denim leg of John's jean shorts.

John looked down at her face, noting how cute she looked when she was exhausted, "Yeah, the drive must have been tough."

"Mhmm," she concurred and then sat up for a moment, only to lay back down with her head in John's lap. "Six hours is not fun."

"How did the Super Bee run?"

Jessica struggled to keep her eyes open, "Like a dream…"

"Sounds like you're ready to dream," John mused and slid a hand under her head to push her upwards.

"Ugh," she groaned as he pulled her to her feet. "I don't even want to move."

"Come on, Jess, you're virtually dead," he tried to coax her, but all she did was turn around, wrap her arms around his torso, and press her head against his chest as her eyes fluttered closed.

"Seriously, I could just fall asleep like this," Jessica informed him sleepily. "Just stand here."

John rolled his eyes and teased her, "Nice way to treat the boyfriend who just bought you a car."

"You'll get over it," she muttered into his chest.

"Oh, come on," John chuckled at her, still holding onto her body as he backed her up down the hallway.

"Please don't make me move," she begged him.

"Sorry, Jess," he apologized as they approached the stairs and he turned her around to push her up the stairs. "We're almost there."

"Remind me to fly down there next time," Jessica mused as they reached the top of the stairs and John directed her sharply to their bedroom on the left.

Almost immediately, Jessica fell face down onto the left side of the bed.

"Don't you want to change?" John asked her, attempting to stifle a laugh.

The blonde pressed her face into the pillow, "Fuck pajamas."

John shrugged and threw off his shirt, followed by his denim shorts, leaving him in only a pair of deep blue boxers.

Jessica cracked an eyelid open and looked at her boyfriend, "Seriously, I think that's the quickest I've ever seen you strip."

* * *

**A/N: This is what I like to call the chapter of death. Know why?**

**I had to re-write the whole damn thing from memory after my computer mysteriously deleted it!!!!**

**UGH. Okay, now that I'm done with my little rant…**

**This chapter might have appeared to be a little fluffy and fun, BUT there are two key lines in this chapter that you have DEFINITELY overlooked as meaningless. Think again!**

**One of these lines is essential to the ending of this story. Another will be further discussed in She's a Rebel III!!! **

**Come to think of it, another line pertains to Randy Orton and will be further discussed in She's a Rebel IV, in conjunction with a character that has yet to be introduced, as it is only 2006 in the story.**

**Shout-outs:**

**JeffHardyFan02 – **Since you saw the Whisper in the Wind off the top of the cage, I'm sure you saw the Swanton off the top of the beam. Um… what the hell? That was insane. And as for Cena, I'm so glad that he's a nice guy in person. And no, I can't blame you… at all. I'm most likely going to the 4/28 RAW the night after Backlash at Continental Airlines Arena… wait. EXCUSE ME. The _Izod Center._ What a stupid name… anyway. Yeah, I'll most likely stop at around 21-22 chapters and then numero tres will be upon us!

**Chain Gang Princess – **I wish he'd buy me a Super Bee too, especially the new 2009 model that's coming out. SERIOUSLY, though… it costs forty-five thousand dollars.

**Candace – **I hope you enjoyed these flashbacks, as well. They were the only part of the story I added in AFTER the re-write. I hope you didn't ignore the Orton-Hardy match on RAW and you learned your lesson!

**Giftiebee – **Yeah, it is a hot car. Um… I believe we almost died when Jeff jumped off of the beam, did we not? Seriously, for a good hour we were OMG-ing.

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – **Screw getting a guy like that, I'd like John, personally. Haha. And yeah, definitely a SAR III and SAR IV. As a matter of fact, I definitely know the whole plotline of She's a Rebel III in detail. It's going to be in a very different, original format. I've actually written the first chapter already. As for SAR IV, I have a beginning, an end, and a few details, such as the fact that it will return to the original format of the first two stories. I'm almost certain, however, that number four will conclude the saga.

**Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 – **I hope this one makes you smile a little bit too!

**JCEdgeRKO – **Jeff is just crazy in general, I swear. I kind of hinted to who the friend was when I wrote "FINALLY, we'll get to see what he's been up to." No one seemed to pick up on that though. Hmm.

**I'm.Totally.Fxcking.Awesome – **Since I don't intend to kill you, it wouldn't be first degree murder. Secondly, since we are neither married nor living in each other's immediate households, it does not qualify as domestic violence either. I'd simply be defending myself against the attack that at the very beginning of the story, you threatened me with. So subsequently, the idea of self-defense in the case would hold up and you would lose. What now? Oh yeah… and I love you too.

**Goddessofthenite – **You know I love to confuse you. Hopefully, this one was a little more straightforward. Although, I know John's little bits here and there didn't seem relevant, but they are.

**Animal-Luvr-89 – **You did hear correctly. There will be a SAR III and a SAR IV. And if you think that chapter was romantic… gah! I wish I could tell you more, but I can't… sorry.

**Miniature-hero – **Life will be getting a little chaotic for Jessica before the story ends in July 2006. Remember, she's got a lot going on in her life until then… the arrival of her newest nephew, and promoting her album, training for her return, amongst other things. While the you-know-what will not be hitting the fan in this story, prepare for it to do so in She's a Rebel III. Once again, I wish I could tell you more, but I can't.

**Nic-002001 – **Wow, if Cena was a chick he would be Jess? That, I find, quite odd… considering the fact that everything about Jessica is everything about me, including my ability to know that much about cars. Julia (goddessofthenite) will vouch for me on that one. Wow, Cena would be me if he was a chick then, I guess. That's quite a bit scary for me. Anyway, I can promise you one thing, however, Jessica and John will still be together at the end of She's a Rebel II. How strong their relationship is… well, you'll see.

**On a side note, there is now a portion of my profile that has been hacked by Jessica McMahon. Currently posted is some info about her album and it's pretty cool, so check it out and let me know what you think. Also, let me know if you want me to give you the track listing of her album. I totally could.**

**Once again, please review everyone! I need eleven reviews this chapter to get to 140 reviews for 14 chapters and an average of 10 reviews per chapter! So review! Review! Review!**

**All for now… expect a More Than Words update either tomorrow or Friday.**

**Oh and in reference to my response to Nic's review, remember how a while back I asked what you thought of the girl I used for my She's a Rebel Banners? Yeah, surprise! That's me!**

**Danielle**


	15. Chapter 15

Jessica rolled out of bed and groaned at the sound of her cell phone ringing on her nightstand.

Immediately, she glanced at the clock at the bedside.

_8:15 am_

"Even while I'm out of the WWE, I can't get any damn sleep," she muttered and then answered her phone. "Hello?"

"Just wake up?" Mike's voice graced her ears with a laugh.

She rubbed her eyes, "What gave me away?"

"Sorry," he apologized quickly. "Listen, how fast can you get here?"

"I guess an hour and a half," Jessica yawned and stretched her arms towards the ceiling. "Why?"

"The reviews are in."

The phone nearly slid out of her hands, "But my album drops next week!"

Mike chuckled knowingly, "The beauty of first listens."

Immediately, Jessica darted into the bathroom and turned on her shower, "Give me an hour."

* * *

With sunglasses over her eyes, she burst through the studio door, "Where are they?" 

"Good morning, Sunshine," her producer, Mike Elizondo, greeted her sarcastically.

"Where are they?" Jessica repeated, finally receiving the numerous notched magazines, separated newspapers, and print outs.

* * *

_**The Rebel is On the Rise**_

_Never in my life would I have ever bet that I'd write these words:_

_Jessica McMahon's debut album is BRILLIANT._

_When I heard that she was actually going through with it, I expected it to be either reminiscent of her boyfriend's c'rap' album or a really bad attempt at power pop._

_Now don't get me wrong, she's angsty, but in a sophisticated way that evokes memories of a young Fiona Apple. Hell, one of her songs is titled "I Want You to Die" and it DOESN'T sound like bad punk music or death metal. That certainly has to count for something, right?_

_Somehow, though, along the way, she's managed to figure out EXACTLY when to use the guitar, when to use the piano, and when to blend the two._

_Perhaps, that's most evident in the song "Love Song," where she just blends both perfectly. Despite its title, this original song is anything but. In fact, this song is probably evidence of her fight with her record company who wanted her to write a love ballad._

_Maybe that's why the song "Gravity" is so fittingly the end of her musical journey. Jessica utilizes her talent with the piano and sophisticated tongue to pen a ballad about her reasons for leaving. The funny this is… while a beautiful and dramatic song, it's still a slight dig at the pressure of music executives. It's as if she was saying, "I'll write what I want… and it's going to be better than any of your stupid ideas."_

_And the truth is… she's probably right._

_Four stars out of four._

_- Sam Michaelson, New York Times

* * *

_

_**Told You So!**_

_**By Michael Jacobs**_

_Back in December, I listed Jessica McMahon as the artist to watch for 2006. _

_And my colleagues laughed their asses off when they read it._

_Not so much anymore…_

_Allow me to go track by track for you._

_1) Love Song – This is quite possibly one of the wittiest songs I have ever heard in my life. "I'm not gonna write you a love song/cause you asked for it/cause you need one, you see. I'm not gonna write you a love song/cause you tell me it's make or break?" Genius. And it's so damn catchy._

_2) Not That Far – Now, allegedly, this song is about her boyfriend, John Cena. Well, before he was her boyfriend. Being the first single off of the album, its extreme popularity will trigger a whole slough of copycats and maybe, that's not necessarily a bad thing._

_3) Bottle it Up – A little profanity goes a very long way._

_4) Oxygen – This song is so carefree and so beautiful. Listening to this, I feel like I should be sitting on the shores of Maui. Then again, it'd be nice if it was her I was sitting with._

_5) Let Me Fall – This song personifies just why Jessica is referred to as "The Rebel." Perhaps this is some leftover grudge against her father that has yet to be addressed? Or maybe some carried over material? Either way, Jessica really does have "something to say."_

_6) The Little Things – When you first start listening to this song, it seems like just a fluffy, lovey dovey number. But the one, pleading sentiment of "Don't just leave me hanging on..." will echo in your mind for days._

_7) I Want You to Die – The title gives it all away as Jess starts out in her typical style, but then… the tempo quickens and the frustration seeps out. Soon though, her outcries turn to whimpers of lament. God, what a song to see live._

_8) Many the Miles – Somewhat reminiscent of Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles," this song once again discusses life on the road and how she'd travel just about distance to come back home to the one she loves._

_9) Vegas – A satirical view at the celebrity life she's found her way to._

_10) Where is My Mind? – This is the best cover of this song I have ever heard. Jessica has brilliantly taken the guitar and thrown it out the window for her piano. Her voice is absolutely haunting and I feel like this reflects her own fall from grace and her ascent from the ashes._

_11) Battle – "Battle" is full of a beautiful kind of anger and in her lyrics, Jessica offers an ultimatum before she turns her back on the person she seems to care about most. Once she walks away for good, she wonders "Why aren't you sorry?" Perhaps this was written some time ago…_

_12) Gravity – This song starts out with a few strategically placed chords and builds its way to the bridge, where Jessica absolutely kills it with one single, solitary note. From what I've been told, this song took over a week alone to record and quite honestly, it was seriously worth the wait._

_Hey, Jess… who's laughing now?

* * *

_

_The Rebel's Release – 3/9/06_

_Countdown to launch: 6 days.

* * *

_

"Aren't you excited?" John asked Jess as he sat down in one of the empty arena chairs, his cell phone pressed against his ear.

"Yeah, but I'm more nervous than anything," she sighed, fiddling with the chord of the kitchen phone.

"But it's critically acclaimed…"

"Doesn't mean it's gonna sell," Jessica retorted as she hopped up on the counter.

"Well, it if makes you feel better… I have a list of people who are definitely buying a copy…" he trailed off and flipped through the notebook in his lap. "Amy, Trish, Adam, Jeff, Matt, Dave, Mickie, Torrie, Victoria, Ashley, Maria, Shawn, Paul, and Mark are all down for one. Randy's down for five, Steph's down for ten, your mom is buying twenty to send to all of her relatives, and Shane's getting twenty for no reason in particular. Um…" he trailed off again, searching for the continuing page. "My mom wants one, each of my brothers are buying one, Jamie wants one for her car, Dad wants one, Marissa wants one for her office, and your dad is ordering a thousand to give away at our next RAW house show," he finished and began attempting to add the numbers on the paper.

"So at least I'm going into Tuesday knowing I've already sold 1,067 copies," Jessica stated optimistically.

John dropped his pen onto the paper in awe, "How the hell do you do that?!?"

"Oh," the blonde shrugged for her own benefit. "I don't know, I just do."

"You're ridiculous, you know that?" You probably use as high of a percentage of your brain as Einstein did," John laughed and placed both of his feel on the back of the chair in front of him.

"Well, I'll have to disagree until the doctors tell me otherwise."

John shook his head, "Speaking of which, when's your next appointment?"

"Tomorrow."

"And when do you find out about…"

"Tomorrow."

* * *

_The Rebel's Release – 3/9/06_

_Countdown to launch: 5 days_

_Today's schedule:_

_1. Doctor's Appointment._

_2. Interview with Seventeen Magazine_

_3. Photo Shoot_

_4. Guest Spot on Leno

* * *

_

As Jessica was led into the exam room by the stout nurse ahead of her, she couldn't help but allow her mind to wander back to the first time she'd hobbled into the Birmingham office for her pre-op appointment.

"_Jessica," the doctor with graying temples greeted his patient with a handshake and then followed suit with her boyfriend, "John. Are you all set for next Thursday?"_

_She nodded weakly, "Flight arrangements are all set, all of my prescriptions are filled."_

"_Good," Dr. Andrews replied. "I'm going to explain the procedure for you, so that you won't be in the dark post surgery, alright?"_

_Jessica nodded, "Okay."_

"_When you get to the hospital, you're going to have to take care of some things at the nurses' station. Nothing major, of course. Then a nurse from inside will bring you to the prep room," Andrews began, his eyes darting from Jessica to John and back again. "The nurse will mark the knee, take your vitals, and then one will get you set up on an IV," he added, eliciting a noticeable shudder from the young blonde. "Just like a bee sting, Jessica, you'll be fine."_

_The woman sighed, "I hope."_

"_You will be," he assured her and then continued. "I'll come in to talk to you and then the anesthesiologist will be in to throw a six pack of beer into your IV," he added with a slight smile._

_At this notion, John couldn't help but burst out laughing, warranting a scowl and an elbow to the ribs from his girlfriend, "What?"_

"_That's not funny," she growled at him._

"_Sorry, sorry," he apologized with a faint chuckle. "Continue."_

"_After that, they'll block the nerves with a few injections in your knee and wheel you into the O.R. I'll be in a few minutes after that," James explained and grabbed the scaled model of a knee off of his exam table as a visual aid. "The first thing I'm going to do is go in and work on the meniscus. Now, there are three possibilities. The first is that it is torn partially, at least a quarter f the way through, and I'll suture it. If it's torn completely in half, I can't save it and it needs to be removed."_

"_And what's the third?" John asked, quickly growing impatient._

"_I might be able to just file it out and round it down, that is if there is a very small tear," the doctor informed him. "It is definitely torn, I just can't tell to what degree. It's very difficult, even with an MRI. After that, I'll graph the patellar tendon and shape it into the ACL, sew you up, and send you off to recovery."_

"_Now, we're going to be flying home, how long should we wait before leaving?" John inquired on behalf of the silent Jessica._

"_You're my first surgery of the day, so you'll be finished by around 11 am, so I'd say about four or five," Andrews responded. "She'll be fine by then, as long as she keeps her knee elevated…"_

"_Alright," John nodded in compliance._

"_I think that's about all I have to tell you, unless you have any more questions, that is. They'll give you your medication and pre-op instruction sheet up front and you'll receive a call from the hospital the day before, okay?"_

"_Okay," Jessica nodded weakly as John headed for the nurses' station._

"_Jess," Dr. Andrews placed a hand on her shoulder, "Listen, I've known you for a very long time and I know that you're scared, but I'm going to do EVERYTHING I can to get you back in that ring. I promise."_

_Jessica turned and studied his tired face, "Did you promise that to Amy?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Did you promise that to Paul?"_

"_Yes."_

"_And what about Dave?"_

"_Yes."_

_She stopped and adjusted the crutch underneath her arm, "Okay then… I believe you."_

"How's my favorite patient?" Dr. Andrews asked, his gaze still on her chart as he entered.

"Nervous," she replied, tucking her hands underneath her thighs, left bare by her shorts as she sat on the exam table.

"Let's take a look at my knee, shall we?" he placed his chart down on the counter. "Head to your left, feet to your right."

Jessica did as she was instructed and he moved her knee around.

"Any pain?"

"Nope."

"Good," he nodded approvingly and picked up her leg. "Relax it," he added and picked up her leg. "Relax it," he added, shifting her around again. "Good. Bend it," James ordered as she bent it back and he nodded again. "Excellent, you can sit up again now."

Jessica nodded, as well, and sat up, her legs dangling off of the table, "Okay."

"Alright," Andrews sighed and pulled over a wheeling stool. "Now, I must say," he began, taking a seat, "For the immense amount of damage you incurred, you are healing incredibly well. In fact, you're about three or four weeks ahead of schedule."

"So…" she glanced down and then up nervously. "What does that mean?"

Andrews smiled as his eyes met hers, "It means that you're going to be okay, Jessica. You're going to be okay."

* * *

_The Rebel's Release – 3/10/06_

_Countdown to Launch: 5 days_

_Watch me tonight on Jay Leno, everyone!_

_- Jess

* * *

_

_**Seventeen Magazine's Role Models that Rock… Number Four: Jessica McMahon**_

_Jessica McMahon, 27, is one of three heirs to the global phenomenon known as World Wrestling Entertainment, the other two being her older brother, Shane, 35, and her older sister, Stephanie, 29. So why pick Jessica out of the three McMahon children?_

_For starters, Jessica was the only McMahon child not to be raised in their hometown of Greenwich, Connecticut. Her grandmother raised her in West Newbury, Massachusetts, after Vince made a brief trip to Boston and met with a promoter there, who had children she quickly befriended. Jessica was not a typical student back in Connecticut and did not fit in the private school system there, so Vince took his step-mother up on her offer to care for Jessica. She still saw her parents and siblings regularly though, despite the distance between. However, don't be mistaken, the youngest McMahon is widely recognized by everyone in the business to be most like her father, grandfather, and her great-grandfather, Jess McMahon, whom she was aptly named for._

_Secondly, Jessica didn't wind up at East Carolina University, like her father, or Boston University, like her brother and sister. She wound up at the incredibly difficult, and incredibly selective, Boston College, forty five minutes away from her hometown of West Newbury, not to mention graduated a year ahead, as she skipped a grade in elementary school, but that's not what's important. Check out what she juggled every single week: she regularly studied and did her school work, trained at a Malden wrestling gym under WWE legend, Killer Kowalski, and managed to go out twice a week in her hometown. Yes, she made the one hour commute five days out of the week, and then drove to Malden after classes five days a week, as well._

_These days, she's one of the few long-lasting Divas of the WWE and has held the Women's Title four times. Interestingly enough, Jessica McMahon is also the Diva with the most wins over her male counterparts._

_Still wondering why we picked her? We thought not._

_We checked in with Jessica, with less than a week before her album, Songs Under the Influence, drops in stores everywhere._

_**Seventeen**__: First off, you've been on the injured list since having surgery in October, how's the knee doing now?_

_**Jessica McMahon: **__Pretty well, actually. The doctor sasy I'm doing great, I'm rehabbing like an animal, and all in all, I'm getting back to normalcy._

_**17:**__ That's great! The road's got to be a pretty tough place to be all of the time, what's it like to be off of the road now?_

_**JM: **__It's definitely an adjustment. While you're on the road, a lot of the time you crave your family and friends back home and you look forward to seeing them whenever you can get a visit in. For me, it's a lot easier than most of the Superstars and Divas backstage. My boyfriend's on the road with me, as are my brother, sister, and parents, but there are a bunch of people I still don't get to see nearly as often as I'd like._

_**17: **__Do you have a lot of friends in the WWE?_

_**JM:**_ _Definitely. At the beginning of my career, a lot of people didn't necessarily take me seriously and figured I was just getting ahead because of my father. Once I proved myself, I got close with a lot of people. Old school guys like The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) and Stone Cold Steve Austin and some of the younger wrestlers like Randy Orton, Edge (Adam Copeland), and Lita (Amy Dumas) are people I count among my closest friends. These guys are like my second family on the road._

_**17: **__While you're rehabbing, John's still on the road, right?_

_**JM:**__ Yeah._

_**17: **__Is it hard for you?_

_**JM: **__I think that originally, in the beginning, it was a lot harder than it is now. After I had my surgery, John was around for a week and then had to go back on the road while his mom looked after me, so my only means of physically seeing him was on the television. Plus, I was dying to get back out in the ring and I knew I still had my whole recovery ahead of me, which certainly didn't keep me at ease. It was very difficult to go from seeing someone every day, working with him, traveling with him, and living with him to relying on phone calls and emails._

_**17: **__Why do you think it is easier now?_

_**JM:**__ In the beginning, I couldn't travel at all. After a few months, I could drive myself around and I was able to keep myself occupied. He came up to West Newbury to spend Christmas and New Years with me and the rest of our families a week earlier than he was supposed to. Instead of the one week, we had two weeks together, which certainly kept me going. It was like a fix of sorts for the both of us. With all the work that's been going into the actual creation of the album and its promotion, I've been able to devote my time to that and not dwell on missing him as much. Don't get me wrong, though, I still miss him terribly._

_**17: **__What made you decide to do an album in your time off?_

_**JM: **__Actually, the decision was made prior to my injury. The album was pushed back to accommodate my surgery. Once I started gaining back some of my strength, I made the effort to write and brought back some of the stuff I had worked on in college and earlier on. I needed an escape and this was the perfect opportunity._

_**17:**__ What do you think the whole process taught you about yourself?_

_**JM: **__I always knew that I was a physically strong person, training the way I always did, but it took an injury and an album to realize just how emotionally strong I am. Growing up, my friends called me their own personal psychiatrist because I would always help others with their personal problems, but I never realized how well I could deal with my own. Granted, there were days that I was incredibly angry at the world and didn't want to get up in the morning, but I got past it. It was natural to be angry when I wasn't able to do everything that took little effort to do in the past, but I've come to value just how I good I have it these days, despite my injury._

_**17: **__There's been some concern that you'll never wrestle again, is that true?_

_**JM: **__With every serious injury, there's always that concern. Right now, though, my chances of returning are as good as they've ever been._

_**17: **__What's your opinion on the state of the Women's Division?_

_**JM: **__Unfortunately, the heyday of the Women's Division is no longer upon us, but with women like Lita, Trish Stratus, and Victoria, we're edging closer and closer to that level once again._

_**17:**__ A lot of people aren't really confident in the talent of the Divas these days. What's your response to that?_

_**JM: **__Honestly, I understand where they're coming from, but I don't exactly agree. Take it from me, whether you're wrestling in matches three or four days a week or not, you're still training all of the time, despite being on the road. It is not even close to easy. I've been on this same schedule for nearly eight years now and I've been working my butt off to be in the position I'm in. I realize that they're referencing the fact that a lot of the division has been reduced to bikini contests and lingerie matches, but I swear, these girls are talented. I've seen them all in the ring, I've been against them all in the ring. Still, I wish that we could return to the days of old-school, kick-butt women in the ring like in the Attitude Era, despite my father's probable discontent with that statement._

_**17:**__ It doesn't hurt when all of the girls, like yourself, look like beautiful models though._

_**JM:**__ Thank you for that, but it takes a lot of work to keep in shape. I do keep a balanced diet and workout as much as I can, but I'm not crazy over it. I'm not going to be the girl that goes out in the ring in hot pants barely covering my butt. Yeah, I'll wear the equivalent of a sports bra, but that's about as racy as I'm going to go. I've done a bra and panties match or two, mainly when we go off to Iraq as a convoluted way of saying thanks to the troops there, and quite a few bikini competitions, but you won't see me doing them every single week. I focus on the athletic side of being a Diva. I want to be that rebel. I want to be that role model for girls._

_**17: **__What exact type of role model do you want to be for girls?_

_**JM:**__ I want to show girls that you can roll with the punches, get in there with all of the big boys, and still be able to hold your own. You don't have to dress provocatively to get noticed, nor do you have to dumb yourself down. I was valedictorian of my high school class and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Boston College. You can be smart and beautiful, no matter what body type you are. Short, fat, thin, tall… they're all labels we put on ourselves which do nothing but make us feel a certain way about bodies. We're all people with feelings who just want to be happy and successful in life._

_**17: **__What piece of advice do you want to give girls everywhere?_

_**JM: **__Don't be afraid to break down the barriers. Just because you're a girl doesn't mean you aren't as smart or competent as guys. As far as guys go, not all of them are complete jerks. Don't get me wrong, a lot of them are, but no guy is worth changing who YOU are. All of the boyfriends I've had in my life were attracted to me because of me. Sure, I'd seen girls they'd gone out with before… but if they couldn't like who I was, they didn't deserve me. Don't change yourself for anyone but you. As long as you love yourself, no one can make you feel differently.

* * *

_

"Our next guest is a five-time WWE Women's Champion and her new album, Songs Under the Influence, is out this Tuesday," Jay announced, fumbling with her album on his desk for the camera. "Ladies and gentlemen, WWE Diva, Jessica McMahon!" he concluded boisterously and stood up from his chair.

Jessica appeared on-screen from behind the deep blue curtain in a knee a-line black dress with thick straps and a shiny black belt that cinched her waist. With a slight wave, she made her way over to the guest's chair, where she greeted the awaiting talk show host with a kiss on the cheek.

Soon, Jay returned to his chair and both sat down.

Once the applause ceased, Jessica smiled brightly, "Well, hello, Jay!"

"Welcome," he returned her grin.

"Thank you, I'm really excited to be here," she stated brightly. "It's my first time on late night."

"Well, technically, midnight late, anyway. You're on Raw, Monday nights from nine to eleven normally, right?"

"Yeah, shameless plug, but I'm normally on late…"

"Beating the living hell out of someone?" Jay finished for her.

Jessica laughed genuinely, "Pretty much."

"But outside of the ring, I hear you're a fellow car enthusiast, is that right?" he asked her curiously.

"Mhmm," she nodded. "Now, I don't have an entire parking structure for my cars, but yes. I love my cars. I've got three in West Newbury in the garage and one in Tampa."

"Only one?"

"Well, technically, yeah…"

"I heard you have close to fourteen in Tampa," he informed her.

"Well, my boyfriend and I live together and he bought a large majority of the cars before I moved in, but most of the newer ones, we bought together. We've got a '66 Hemi Charger, a 2007 Viper Pickup, a 1970 Plymouth Superbird, and a one-of-a-kind 1971 Torino GT…"

"What about your West Newbury cars?"

"I've got a 2006 Mustang Saleen S-7 in satin silver, a 2006 Mustang S281 SC in black, and a bright purple 1996 Pontiac Sunfire, which was the first car I ever drove," she replied fondly.

"Does it still run?" he leaned forward slightly.

"Like a dream… it's got close to 80,000 miles on it now, which isn't bad considering I've owned it for around ten years now. John's got this REALLY old Jeep Wrangler up in West Newbury. In fact, it's so old, it was considered ancient when he first got in while we were in high school. I mean, isn't that kind of a bad car to have in Massachusetts? It's so damn cold… anyway, it's got over 200,000 miles on it and STILL runs."

"Speaking of your boyfriend, WWE Champ John Cena, I heard he bought you a very nice present recently," Jay wiggled his eyebrows, causing the blonde to chuckle.

"Yeah, he bought me a 2007 Dodge Charger Super Bee edition," she grinned proudly as a few people in the crowd whistled and cheered. "Yeah! Only one of one thousand in existence, number 949 to be exact."

The older man nodded, "You seem to like fast cars… how's your insurance?"

Jessica reached up and rubbed her forehead, "Mine's great. John's sucks."

"Really?" he asked in surprise.

"It's actually to the point where I drive more often than not, so that he doesn't get his license taken away."

"Uh… isn't there a legal limit?"

"Oh, absolutely. And he's WAY above it," she laughed and re-crossed her legs.

"Now let me ask you another question."

"Um," she eyed him warily. "Sure…"

"How the hell do you do this?" Jay asked her as a video screen ascended from behind them.

A moment later, a video was started up on the flat screen.

_Lita took this as a signal to get in the ring too and she charged at her nemesis. Jessica quickly took care of Lita as she landed a boot to the midsection and tossed her out of the ring, sailing in-between the top and middle ropes towards the announcers' table._

_Apparently, Edge's experience in TLC matches had allowed him to recover quickly, while John still lay outside the ring._

_Jessica turned around to see Edge, with his back towards her, taunting her partner and best friend. Thinking quickly, she rushed the corner turnbuckle and stood atop of it. Just as Edge turned around, Jessica took flight and landed a shooting star press, knocking him to the mat._

_He rolled over to his stomach in pain and she smirked over his body. Hurriedly, she stepped in-between his legs, folded them into a triangle, and bridged backwards, locking her hands around his neck. A second later, Edge found himself in the Blackout, an inverted STF._

_Jessica pulled upwards with all of her strength. She thought about Randy's lies and her missing bike, the empty feeling in her heart, and she held on for dear life._

_She could hear yelling and closed her eyes tight. Soon, she felt his body growing weaker by the second. It wasn't until the bell had rung that Jessica knew he had tapped out and it was over._

_Her night was finally over._

"_Oh my God, King! Jessica just made Edge tap! Edge just tapped to the Blackout!" _

"_Never mess with a woman scorned, J.R.!"_

A huge burst of applause followed as the screen went black and descended back behind the couch.

"Well," Jessica shrugged, a blush creeping up her cheeks, "Somewhere around ten years of intense training, but it's a good thing you didn't let the clip keep running."

Jay looked a little puzzled, "Why?"

"Well for starters, I plowed my motorcycle through a glass door…"

"What the hell was that for?" he threw his hands up in the air and let them fall on the desk.

"I was angry," she stated simply.

"Most people go to the gym…"

"I'm not most people," Jessica retorted.

"Touché…" Jay held up his hands in mock surrender. "A singer and a wrestler does make for two unique occupations. Are you gonna sing for us when we come back?"

"Absolutely," Jessica nodded with a smile.

"We'll be right back."

* * *

_The Rebel's Release – 3/14/06_

_Countdown to launch: 1 day!!!_

_EVERYONE PLEASE GO OUT AND BUY SONGS UNDER THE INFLUENCE TOMORROW!_

_I swear, it's a million times better than John's album… sorry, baby._

_Rock on!_

_Jessica

* * *

_

After typing up her sixth blog of the week, Jessica closed her laptop and placed it on the nightstand of her bed.

Exhausted from her week of relentless promotion, which included spots on Leno, Letterman, Conan, Ferguson, Kimmel, the View, and Ellen, along with a thousand interviews, photo shoots, and radio appearances, she slid down under the hunter green blanket.

For a moment, though, she couldn't help but stare at the ceiling.

Years had passed since she'd first debuted in the WWE and she had grown to love the recognition she'd received from it.

But as her father had told her over the phone, a successful album would garner an immense amount of notoriety, which would bring more endorsements, interviews, and movie deals than she could ever ask for.

As she slowly drifted to sleep, Jessica wondered if she was ready for all of it if it should come.

One thing was for certain: tomorrow would determine everything.

* * *

**A/N: You guys came out in DROVES for the last chapter, so I wrote you an EXTRA LONG ONE in celebration of your reviews and John's return.**

**Yay! My Monday nights are normal again!**

**I got a crazy ass phone call, complete with screaming, from Miss Brittany and that's how I found out. Then, as Becky will attest, I searched for two hours to find footage of his entry into the Royal Rumble on YouTube that hadn't been taken down by administrators. Alas, I did… and screamed.**

**Oh… and for the record, I'm attending the 4/28 RAW at the Izod Center, the night after Backlash with my friend, Dom. Row DD, baby!**

**Before I get to my usual shout-outs, I think it's SOOO funny that you guys all overlooked the end of my author's note because I said something that should have made you guys smack yourselves in the head, so for the benefit of myself alone, I'll repeat it.**

**You know the banner for She's a Rebel and She's a Rebel II? **

**Yeah, well… SURPRISE!**

**That's me.**

**Oh, and at the end of this note, I'm going to post who does what song originally, so you can all "buy" your very own copy of Jess's Album.**

**Now, for my favorite part… the shout outs:**

**Giftiebee -** What am I going to do with you? Oh, I know! Join you… I just messaged him and sent him a picture of his article in the NY Post. Let's see if the lightning strikes twice, shall we?

**Goddessofthenight – **What'd you think of this one? Oh… and send those pics whenever you get the chance, okay? Okay.

**Adrian Jade – **Yay! I'm so glad… I'm not really sure how many chapters there are going to be, but the pace should start picking up soon. I think there will be one or two more for the month of March, then one in April, one in May, and maybe one or two in June… figure about 20-21 chapters, similar to the first SAR.

**JeffHardyFan02 – **Okay, I'm going to try to address everything. I'm glad you love the story and the Swanton was awesome. I wish Jeff did take the title, but now we have Cena AND an elimination chamber match to look forward to. Yeah, I'm thinking about that entrance thing and working on it. And as for the marriage of McCena… I'm waiting for it too, haha. We'll see.

**Sideways anger – **Another long one! God, you guys make me smile! Especially when I hear that you stayed up past FOUR IN THE MORNING to read this one. I hope this update came swiftly enough for you and I'm so flattered that you think I'm one of the best writers on this site. I feel absolutely honored and I hope that I this chapter makes you laugh at certain points, as well. I'm actually hard at work on MTW at the moment, as I have midterms this week and have a lot of free time on my hands with all of my exemptions.

**Westfan – **Truth be told, I love their moments too. That's why I keep bringing him back. I hope you like this chapter too… and check back on her corner. Jessica update a short while ago!

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – **Yeah, Rob Sullivan happens to be a bit of a character… then again, so is John Cena. Yep, there's going to be a III and a IV and I have the beginning, first chapter, and last chapter of SAR III written already. And as for you know who… she might be lucky now, but not when 4/28 rolls around…

**JCEdgeRKO – **Believe me, I hate that too! This one's a bit tough of a guessing game, so I don't blame you. I'm trying to be vague on purpose! How am I doing?

**CandaceMcMahon – **I see you decided to sign in again! Was your mouth wide open for John too? Mine was… and screaming!

**Chain Gang Princess – **Yay! I hope you like this one too!

**Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 – **I seem to be stumping a lot of people lately!

**Miniature-hero – **How _are_ those skittles? Personally, I like wildberry… those are my favorite. Life is good, hope yours is as good!

**Nic-002001 – **Thank you for the compliment! I can't wait to get started on the third story, believe me. I'm itching to get to it.

**Animal-Luvr-89 – **I thought that name was cute too. I wish Jess was my godmother too… but then I'd have no shot with John. Double edged sword, isn't it?

**Dj-ssdd – **Haha, it's alright. Candace has logged in maybe once, don't worry about it. Don't stay away, though… I missed you the last time you went away!!! Glad you like More Than Words, too. Two difference concepts, but two kick ass girls. That should be soon too. Oh… and I'm glad you think the sequels will kick ass.

**I'm.Totally.Fxcking.Awesome – **Alright, here we go. For the record, I am future lawyer and I've taken law classes for the last three years of high school. You can't beat me, Chantel. Just face it already. As for the story, that's sooo my philosophy too

**Inday – **Yes they are… only because Jess is modeled after me! Haha.

**Okay, so here are the tracks, in order, for Songs Under the Influence.**

**1. Love Song – Sara Bareilles**

**2. Not that Far – Stan Chen (PM me and I'll link it for you, you can't download it anywhere else.)**

**3. Bottle It Up – Sara Bareilles**

**4. Oxygen – Colbie Calliat**

**5. Let Me Fall – Alexz Johnson**

**6. The Little Things – Colbie Calliat**

**7. I Want You to Die – Storm and the Balls**

**8. Many the Miles – Sara Bareilles**

**9. Vegas – Sara Bareilles**

**10. Where is My Mind? – Storm and the Balls**

**11. Battle – Colbie Calliat**

**12. Gravity – Sara Bareilles**

**I tried to pick out songs that went together, both genre-wise and vocally, and attempted to arrange them to flow well. Let me know what you think.**

**Well folks, that concludes Chapter 15! Expect a More Than Words and Only One update very soon.**

**And as always, review!**

**Danielle**


	16. Chapter 16

_The Rebel's Release – 3/21/06_

_389,421 copies!_

_I swear, when I heard this number yesterday, I almost fainted. I really did come close to doing so._

_My gratitude to you all is just immense. I never expected that my album would be so popular. You guys have made me so incredibly happy… words cannot even describe my happiness level._

_My thanks go out to all of my fans, both those who have and have not bought the album over the past week, for all the love you've shown me, my amazing audio team for all of your hard work, and my family and friends for supporting me throughout this whole rollercoaster journey._

_Ahh! I'm so excited for what's to come… I swear, I'll keep you all posted!_

_Love and Rock n' Roll,_

_Jessica

* * *

_

"I hope he doesn't look like his father."

"John!" Jessica hissed into her cell phone as she sat in the waiting room. "That's a horrible thing to say."

"What?" her boyfriend laughed. "It's the truth…"

Jessica grimaced as she spotted her sister waddling down the hallway, "The wicked bitch of the west is coming, so I'm going to go. I'll call you later, alright?"

"Alright," John agreed. "Send Marissa my love and give the little guy a kiss for me, okay?"

"You've got it. I love you," she smiled.

"I love you too," he replied, "Bye."

"Bye."

"Hello."

Jessica let out a deep sigh and composed herself, "Hey. Where's your husband?"

"Parking the car," Stephanie shrugged and placed a hand on her lower back. "God, the kid's not even born yet and already it's giving me a hard time."

"Oh, really nice, Steph," the younger sister rolled her eyes.

"Hey, when you carry a kid around for five months, you'll understand," her sister retorted.

Jessica smirked at her sister, "Four more months to go."

Stephanie tapped her foot impatiently, "Did she have the baby yet?"

"About an hour ago," she nodded. "I was just on the phone with a few people to pass on the news."

"Great, that's what I get for letting Paul drive!" the elder woman grunted.

"What did I do _now_?" Paul appeared a few feet behind his wife.

"Other than drive like a grandfather?" Stephanie threw her hands up in the air. "Nothing."

"Well, they're moving her to recovery now and the baby's in the nursery," Jessica informed her sister. "You can go see our nephew."

"Our nephew?" Stephanie's face softened.

"Yeah," the blonde nodded with a smile. "It's a boy... our nephew's name is Kenyon. Nine pounds, six ounces."

"Paul, what are you waiting for?" the pregnant woman smacked her husband on the arm. "Let's go!"

The man sighed and leaned in towards his sister-in-law as his wife took off down the hallway, "Do you see what I have to deal with every day?"

"Do you see why I didn't return home for twelve years?"

Paul chuckled heartily, "Touché."

* * *

_The Rebel's Release – 3/26/07_

_Today, my wonderful sister-in-law, Marissa, welcomed into the world my adorable nephew, Kenyon Jesse McMahon._

_I just wanted to congratulate Shane and Marissa, along with big brother Declan, on their new arrival and officially welcome the newest McMahon to the family._

_An aunt twice over? I just love it._

_Jessica

* * *

_

Five days came and went in a blink of an eye for Jessica.

True to her father's predictions, offers were coming in from all directions in the form of commercials, movies, TV shows, radio spots, and everything else one could think of.

But there was really only one place she wanted to be at the moment… a place that with each passing day, she was growing closer and closer to, but for now, she could not reach.

The ring.

It was in her blood and it was in her heart, no matter what she did.

For now, though, clad a pair of sweats and a zip-up hoodie, she was more than happy to be in a place that was as close to the wrestling ring as she could get: the School of Hard Nocks.

"McMahon," a familiar deep voice greeted her as she walked to one of the treadmills in the building that lacked both air conditioning and heat.

Jessica wheeled around with a smirk and caught sight of the well-built man on the other side of the room, "Nocks."

"I was wondering when the hell you were getting around to coming here?" he folded his arms over his chest as he began to rapidly approach her.

"Yeah, well, believe me," she sighed, "I would have been here sooner if it wasn't for a little something known as my ACL."

"I get ya," Dave nodded in understanding.

"It sucks, man."

"I know, but hey! You got someone else to drag his ass back here after a few years of being away," he glanced at the far corner of the room.

Jessica followed his gaze and smile spread across her face, "He never ceases to amaze me."

"They don't call him Superman for nothing," the older man chuckled. "I'll leave you two to work out, I've got some bills and shit to pay. Catch ya later, kiddo."

"See you 'round, Dave," she smiled at him as the surprise visitor made his way over to the treadmill she had just begun to walk on. "You."

"Oh come on, Jess," her raised his eyebrows at her. "Is that anyway to talk to your boyfriend."

"Just get on the fucking treadmill," she rolled her eyes and turned her focus back on running.

* * *

As Jessica drove home in her car, she couldn't help but smile at the fact that John was home again. It had been somewhere around a month and a half since she'd last seen him and while they had spent two weeks together, the six weeks since had been incredibly painful. 

Today, though, was a reversion to nostalgia of sorts.

She was back at the School of Hard Nocks gym.

John Cena had returned to West Newbury.

And Jessica McMahon was driving her 1995 Pontiac Sunfire once more.

Yeah, it was just like the good old days.

* * *

Pulling into the driveway, she parked right next to John's Jeep Wrangler, still running with well over two-hundred thousand miles on it. 

"Question…" she laughed as she exited her car. "Any particular reason you're driving that thing when it's still forty-something degrees outside?"

"Yeah," John nodded and opened the front door with his key, "It's not thirty-something degrees outside."

With a roll of her eyes, Jessica followed him inside and unzipped her sweatshirt before throwing it over the bannister, "You have the least amount of common sense that I have ever seen in my entire life."

He raised his eyebrows at her, "You sure about that?"

She closed her eyes in defeat, knowing exactly what he meant, "Yes. I am positive."

"I mean, we both know who your father is…"

"I get the point, Cena," she spat at him as she dropped her gym bag to the floor.

"As long as you know…" he smiled brightly as he followed her upstairs. "God, I missed this place."

"It's missed you too," she nodded and leaned against the bedroom doorframe as he passed by her. "It's been really lonely here without you."

"Let me get this straight…" John pulled off his tank top and threw it onto the bed and turned around to face her, trying to bite the smile on his lips, "The _house_ missed me?"

"Well, no…" Jessica looked down at her Nikes, "I missed you."

John allowed the smile to flourish on his face, "I missed you too."

He reached out and brushed a few strands of hair away from her flushed face, sliding his hand to the nape of her neck as he pressed his lips onto hers.

Jessica laughed and pushed him away, "John, stop… you need a shower."

"Let me ask you a question," he smirked at her and Jessica became slightly afraid of his response.

"Um… alright?"

The smirk playing on his lips grew even wider, "Did the shower miss me too?"

"Don't make fun of me," she shot back at him. "You're the one who can never take advantage of a situation."

"One more question…?"

Jessica sighed, "Go ahead."

"When Dr. Andrews gave you clearance for physical activity last week," he started, his sapphire eyes twinkling mischievously, "Did he mean ALL physical activity?"

The blonde dragged her top row of teeth across her bottom lip and pulled her black tank top over her head, leaving her in just a black sports bra.

With a rake of her perfectly black-manicured fingernails over his muscular chest, she smiled seductively and disappeared for the most part behind the bathroom door, "Care to find out?"

* * *

Three hours later, Jessica rolled over in bed, wrapped in dark blue sheets, and faced John. 

"How was that for taking advantage of a situation?" he smirked deviously and ran a hand down the length of her arm.

"Pretty damn good," she laughed and kissed him, running her tongue over his lips.

"Now THAT was what I missed," he added with a laugh of his own.

"Now you can tell your brother to stop begging me to let you go to Vegas where prostitution is legal," she countered.

"Aww, man… JESS!" he groaned in disgust. "Why did you have to bring up my brother _now_?"

"Because as demonstrated previously, I like to torture you," she shrugged with a smile.

"God damn, girl," John shook his head and propped his head up on his arm. "Alright, so I was thinking earlier today… before, you know… about your birthday on Tuesday."

"Mhmm…"

"And I was wondering what you wanted to do while we're in Chicago?"

Jessica bolted upright, the sheets still tucked tightly around her lithe form, "Chicago?"

"Well yeah," John nodded slowly, "We have to fly out to Chicago tomorrow morning for RAW."

"When were you planning on telling me this?" she asked him angrily, her hazel eyes blazing.

"Whoa, Jess," he held up his hands as he rose to a sitting position. "I thought you knew…"

"Obviously not," she shot back.

"I just figured you wanted to spend your birthday with me," he scratched the back of his head. "I mean, it'll be the first time I'm around for your birthday in nine years."

"So that's the way you want to play this one," Jessica shook her head, her eyes beginning to brim with tears. "Let's make Jessica look like the bad guy."

"Jess, I…"

"No, no, John," she turned away from him and laid back down, sideways, onto the bed, burying herself beneath the blanket and the remaining sheets, "Don't try to make me feel better now."

John placed a hand on her shoulder, "Jessica, come on…"

She pulled her shoulder away, "Don't touch me. This was what you wanted, wasn't it? Come back to West Newbury, get a quick lay to hold you over for a while, and then head back to Chicago for RAW…"

"Jessica, if I wanted a quick lay, I could have just gone looking for any random fan out there…" he grimaced as the words left his mouth.

_Fuck. _

Within a split second, he knew he had really done it this time.

Jessica gritted her teeth at him as she turned over to face him, tears pouring down her cheeks, "Fuck you, Cena. I knew you were too good to be true."

He closed his eyes for a moment, knowing that he was the reason for those tears.

"I didn't mean that. You know I use sarcasm as a defense and… fuck, it just came natural," John tried to explain, but it was to no avail.

"You're right, being an asshole does come natural to you," she spat at him and then rose from the bed, pulling the sheets along with her and began grabbing a few items of clothing from her drawers.

Hastily, she went into the bathroom and got changed, throwing the sheets at John as she tied her hair into a ponytail.

"Where are you going?" he asked, gripping the sheets around his waist as he swung his legs over the side of the bed.

"Out," Jessica stated simply and flew out the door.

A few moments later, John could only cringe as the front door slammed behind her.

* * *

Jessica zipped up her sweatshirt as she sat down on the grassy patch in front of the backyard garden, which had just begun to grow, and sighed, "Hey, Grandma. I know that it's been a little while since I visited you at the cemetery, but I thought that this would be the best place to talk to you. I mean, I know that you're physically there, but… just because you're body is there, doesn't mean your spirit's there too. I just can't explain it," she tried to search for the words, but failed again. "I just… I just know that you're here." 

She reached up and tightened her ponytail, "I'm not sure what to do, Grandma. With John, I mean. Then again, with life in general, I guess. My birthday's tomorrow, but you knew that already, didn't you? Maybe not, I'm not entirely sure how this heaven thing works."

Jessica placed her hands over her face and shook her head, "I'm just so confused. I want a career, I want a life in the WWE. It's in my blood, just like it was in Grandpa's and Dad's. But at the same time, I want a life with John. It was hard enough being injured and having to deal with being away from him constantly. What if we get married and have kids… I can't exactly keep them on the road with me at all times, now can I? I'm not like Shane, I wrestle full time. Then again, I'd probably have to give that up too. I don't think I could live the rest of my life like this, Grandma."

* * *

Now in a pair of jeans and a gray Red Sox tee shirt, John stared out the back window, looking for a distraction. 

Instead, he found his girlfriend sitting on the ground in the backyard by the garden.

It made sense; he hadn't heard her start up the car and leave.

He studied her a little more closely and noticed that her lips were moving.

As he stood there, he wondered who she could possibly be talking to in the middle of the cold, gray Massachusetts afternoon.

Suddenly, it dawned on him.

_Diana.

* * *

_

"I went through almost eight years of living without him and I know I couldn't do that again," she shook her head sadly. "I just don't think I could go the rest of my life living with him if he's not living with me. Does that make any sense to you?" she looked up at the gray sky. "I hope so... you did always know me best."

Absentmindedly, she began picking at the grass, like she had done as a small child, waiting for John to come over and play.

"I wish I could be like you, Grandma. You would have known exactly what to do. You wouldn't have sat around crying, you would have picked yourself back up and kept on going," a lone tear streaked down her cheek. "God, I wish I could have been like you."

* * *

John sat down on the edge of the now neatly-made bed, "I messed up didn't I, Diana? You trusted me with your granddaughter and I let you down." 

He picked at some loose threads on his jeans, like he had done as a child when he was nervous.

Some things never really changed, did they?

"You know better than anyone else that I love her. You saw what I did back in February, back in Tampa. You understand, don't you?" he sighed. "I thought that bringing her with me to Chicago supershow would make her happy. I thought that seeing all of her friends and family on her birthday would be a good surprise. I guess I've been wrong about a lot of things lately…"

* * *

"It's in his blood now too, isn't it?" she looked down at her sneakers. "I knew it. It's my own fault, really. I was the one that took him to Wrestlemania all those years ago. I should have known better." 

Suddenly, her shoes didn't appeal much to her anymore.

"I was wrong for snapping at him. It was just everything piled up since a month or two into the surgery and released in one shot. It was stupid of me. I mean, wasn't that what my album was for?" Jessica asked with a laugh.

* * *

"But I know that I'm not wrong about her," John shook his head. "I know that I love her more than I've ever loved anyone in my entire life. Then again, that's not really a fair statement; I've loved _her_ my entire life." 

John reached up and ran a hand over his shortened hair.

"I can't do it by myself anymore, Diana. Please… please let her know just how much I love her when I can't convey it in words. There's so many ways to say I love you, yet I only know one. Help me find a way… help her find a way. We need you more now than we've ever needed you before…"

* * *

"I dedicated it to you, you know. You were the one that taught me the value of music, of love, of life… I owe everything to you. I don't know what I would have done without you, Grandma," Jessica reached up and wiped away a tear. "Just help me find the strength to keep going, to keep being the best person I can be in life, the best partner I can be for John. I love him more than he could ever possibly understand. I need him in my life, just like I needed you all of those years ago…" 

This was a lot harder than she'd anticipated.

Jessica shook her head sadly and looked up into the cloudy abyss above her, "You know, this would have been so much easier if you were still here."

Her eyes closed lightly as a light breeze passed across the yard.

"You really are here… aren't you?"

* * *

"I know you were the one that brought us back together. All of those years of not speaking… it took losing you to bring me back to my senses. I'm sorry for depriving you of those memories of me and Jessica, of the beginning of our relationship," he apologized sincerely. "And for depriving her of the memories that might have come between the three of us had I stuck around." 

John stood back up again and looked out the window to see Jessica rising to her feet, her lips no longer moving.

"I hope I didn't take away your attention from her, she needs you more than I do right now. But while I do have your attention, just watch over us, okay?" he allowed his sapphire orbs, slightly watery at the moment, to drift towards the ceiling. "I did nothing as she walked out of my life when I was nineteen and I won't make the same mistake again."

"John!" a voice broke his upward gaze and he glanced out the window, to find that she had gone. "John!"

He smiled slightly and nodded before looking up for the last time, "Thank you."

"John," the feminine voice graced his ears once more, in a much lighter tone, from a few feet away.

He turned around to face her, "Hey."

"Hi," Jessica looked at him bashfully, then at her shoes. "I'll go to Chicago."

"Jess, you don't have to…" he trailed off, approaching her slowly.

"No," she shook him off, her blonde ponytail traveling with her. "I want to go to Chicago. My family's there, my friends are there, and if that's where you're going to be, I want to be there too. I'll always want to be where you are… because where you are, John…" Jessica looked up at him, green flecks clearly visible in her hazel eyes, "That's home."

* * *

**A/N: For the record, I've re-written this chapter three times now. I have to say, the ending of this chapter was originally going to be her meltdown, but then some lyrics got stuck in my head and I was off.**

**Once again, last review, no one seemed to realize that I had actually stated that the girl in the banners for SAR and SAR II was me. Maybe that'll sink in this time.**

**Oh, and on a cool note… it appears as though I have an incredibly passionate reader.**

**A few weeks ago, I checked some info on John on Wikipedia and the following was written under his _Personal Life _section:**

_**John is currently dating WWE Diva, Jessica McMahon, the daughter of WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon. They have been together since July 2005 and currently live together in their hometown of West Newbury, Massachusetts, as well as Tampa, Florida. John and Jessica grew up next door to each other, but fell out of contact from 1996 until mid-2005.**_

**If you look at his Wikipedia page now, though, you'll notice that it is normal, but locked. This is why.**

**Seriously, whoever that was, I am flattered. It was really cool.**

**Shout outs:**

**Goddessofthenite – **I hope you didn't fall asleep while watching House. And by the way… where are those DAMN PICTURES?!?!?

**Sideways anger – **I'm glad you found the article to be authentic. I love the magazine, although I am growing dismayed with the amount of times Paris Hilton, Hilary Duff, and Lindsay Lohan have been on the cover. Although, I don't think I'd want any WWE Diva on there right now, other than Lita, Trish, Mickie James, or Ashley… and Ashley would be an iffy one for me. Thanks for the good luck on my midterms. Turns out… I got ALL A'S! Figures, last year of high school… I manage to do it.

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – **Yep, the album was a hit! Thanks for the kudos on the chapter. More Than Words is progressing… slowly, but it's coming along. I'm a little stuck at the moment.

**Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100** – I'm glad you like the songs! I'd agonized over them for something like 3 weeks or so. Leave it to me to not go to the Rumble, despite being in close proximity to NYC, because John wouldn't be there… and be entirely wrong.

**I'm.Totally.Fxcking.Awesome – **Thank God your off hiatus! And by the way, it's called vicarious liability. Look it up.

**Adrian Jade – **Ahhh… a Malden girl. Hey, you learn something new every day!

**Inday – **Sorry that Jess kind of had a meltdown this chapter, but I think that she is better now and needed that. Don't you?

**Westfan – **Thank you! I love INC! I hope you like this update too… and I'm sorry that John's return messed up your plans. They actually messed up some of mine too for the later fics if it makes you feel better. I love Gravity the best those, as you could probably tell.

**JeffHardyFan02 – **I'm glad you like the story and I can't wait for NWO. I too want Randy to keep the title, mainly because I don't want John to get booed. Still though, he'll get it anyway. It's okay if you can't like him too much because he's a Sox fan, I'm a Mets fan. Seriously, we share a common goal… aside from that whole Bill Buckner incident in 1986. And while I was incredibly frustrated to learn he was engaged, I was more than relieved to find out that it was a few months back and that they're no longer together. Figures… she was annoyed at the lack of publicity and wanted those pictures out. Haha. Makes me laugh.

**Chain Gang Princess – **Good, I'm not the only one who went through premature PMS in a matter of moments.

**Dani – **I can't wait to write the ending too! There was a huge hint to the ending in this chapter, but once again… no one tends to notice my little hints. Mwahh!!!

**CandaceMcMahon – **I love them too. And I love writing this story. And I love when you love it!

**JCEdgeRKO – **As you can see, it was DEFINITELY a bigger hit than John's. I kind of want Randy to keep the title too… so John doesn't get booed. But, alas, no one listens to the seventeen year old in Marlboro, New Jersey, now do they?

**Sailor mama – **Ahh, welcome back! Glad I left you speechless.

**Giftiebee – **Two words, Britt? You're usually more chatty than that. Hehe. Just kidding, girl.

**TheRealKellyAnne – **Thank you! I hope you liked this one too!

**Miniature-hero – **I love how I can talk about Skittles in just about everything. In Yearbook today, of which I am the editor, I told my advisor that a page one of the girls had done looked like someone had thrown up a package of Smoothie Skittles all over the page. That might be my favorite Skittles line ever. And thanks for the kudos!

**And that once again concludes Chapter 16 of She's a Rebel II: Unravel.**

**I know a few of you guys wanted the song "Not That Far" and I forgot to reply to your PM's. PM me again and I'll send it to you all!**

**Rock on, Rebels!**

**Danielle**


	17. Chapter 17

Jessica laid down on the queen-sized bed in her Chicago hotel room.

John had gone out early that morning to go to the gym and being the incredibly lazy person she was that day, she had decided to stay in for the duration of his session. Truth be told, she just wanted to relax with four days to go until her birthday.

But at the moment, the incessant knocking on her door wasn't helping.

In a pair of flannel pants and a black camisole, she headed for the door and pulled it open, a move, had it been a little later in the day, she wouldn't have done without a peek first.

"So I guess the rumors _were_ true," the man on the other side smirked at her.

"Randy!" Jessica smiled brightly and flung her arms around the neck of the much taller man.

"Hey, Jess," Randy laughed and wrapped his arms around her. "Long time no see."

"God, I missed you," she sighed as she pulled back from him slightly. "How've you been?"

"Good, good," he nodded slowly and slid his hands into his pockets. "Did John tell you about… you know?"

"Yeah," Jessica couldn't help but smile at his uncharacteristic shyness. "About the girl… Sam. I'm happy for you, Randy. Really, I am. How long has it been?"

"About a month after you got hurt, so November," he informed her with a boyish grin. "You'll get to meet her tomorrow."

The blonde's eyebrow instinctively arched, "Tomorrow?"

"The Hall of Fame ceremony," Randy eyed her intently. "Don't tell me you forgot about it."

"Um… maybe?"

"Jess…" Randy rolled his eyes at her. "You know that it's a black tie event and all of the girls got their dresses already. Hell, Sam's had hers for two months now."

"I know!" Jessica threw her hands up in the air and walked further into the room. "I know!"

"And John _is_ inducting William "The Refrigerator" Perry…"

"You want to add more to my plate, Orton?" she turned around and folded her arms over her chest.

His emerald eyes sparkled slightly, "Maybe…"

"Asshole," she scoffed at him and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Let me ask you a question?"

Randy dropped down on the bed beside her, "Shoot."

"I know that Trish is a little busy planning her wedding these days and Amy's back in North Carolina right now, so I have no one to go with today."

"Go where?"

Jessica's hazel eyes connected with his, "Could you come with me dress shopping? I need an opinion and it's either you or my sister…"

"Gee, Jess, you know how to make a guy feel good," he rolled his green eyes at her.

She smacked him playfully, "You know what I meant. So, please… will you go with me?"

Randy sighed and shook his head, "You know I can never say no to you."

Jessica smirked, "That's exactly what I was planning on."

* * *

"How the hell did you manage to find this place?"

Randy glanced around the expansive gallery of dresses in all sizes, shapes, and colors.

When they'd first approached the store, it had looked like a little hole-in-the-wall, rundown, piece of crap store with a few average dresses in the window.

But when they had pushed through the doors… it all became a show.

Jessica laughed at his wide eyes, "Let's just say that it's amazing what the concierge can tell a person."

A middle-aged woman with dyed-blonde hair approached the pair as they stood just beyond the doors, "Hello, can I help you with anything today?"

"I need a dress… desperately," the younger blonde chuckled beside Randy.

"I see," the woman nodded and looked Randy up and down, making him slightly uncomfortable. "A wedding dress?"

"Huh…. Oh! No, no," Jessica shook her head. "Actually, there's a black-tie event tomorrow night that I'm attending, which I wasn't originally going to be present at, but now I am… and need a dress."

"It wouldn't happen to be that wrestling thing going on, now would it?"

A slight smile spread across the younger woman's face, "Actually, it would be."

"Well, my name is Jane Switowski," the woman, now formally known as Jane, stuck out her hand, "And I've owned this shop since 1976."

"Jessica McMahon," the caramel blonde shook Jane's hand, "Pleasure to meet you."

"And is this your boyfriend?" Jane looked over to Randy again.

"Him? God, no," Jessica laughed heartily and shook her head. "This is my best friend, Randy. He's a WWE Superstar…"

"Like her _actual_ boyfriend," Randy finally managed to pipe up under the uncomfortable gaze of the older woman.

Jane's eyebrow arched instinctually, "Your boyfriend's a wrestler?"

"Yeah, well…" the youngest McMahon fumbled with her words.

Randy quickly picked up the slack in her language, "Yes and she is too… one of the most beautiful and certainly the best."

"So why isn't he your boyfriend again?" the dress shop owner asked her incredulously.

"Because I fell in love with my other best friend."

* * *

Randy stretched his legs in the chair outside of the dressing rooms.

He'd been sitting in his chair for the last hour and hadn't really gotten up since he first sat down.

In the last sixty minutes, it seemed as though Jessica had tried on every dress in the store, but alas, she seemed to keep coming out after every single one.

"What about this one?" Jane asked as the young woman entered the open area in a bright yellow dress.

The dress was a shade reminiscent of canary yellow and while form-fitted from her chest to her waist, the bodice was incredibly large and of the pick-up nature, made entirely of bustles.

Standing well-behind the woman, Jessica was vehemently shaking her head.

Randy sighed, "She looks like Belle from Beauty and the Beast. A wrestling ring is no place for a girl like her. Isn't there anything less… big?"

Jane placed a hand to her chin and then turned to face Jessica, "Yes. I think I have just the thing… wait right here."

Jessica breathed out in relief and whispered to Randy, "Thank you."

"No problem," he laughed at her reaction. "I think that stopping anyone from wearing that is the duty of people _everywhere._"

"It should be," she added, now laughing herself. "That's not something appropriate to wear to the Hall of Fame ceremony."

"Did you even tell her what you wanted?"

"I said it had to be something fancy…" she trailed off in recollection.

"And that's it?"

"Yeah, why… oh," Jessica nodded in understanding. "Maybe I should have defined that I didn't mean Queen Elizabeth fancy."

"For a woman who can add twenty six-digit numbers up in her head," Randy shook his head at his friend, "You sure can be stupid sometimes."

"Only because I choose brain-dead friends like you," the blonde retorted, sticking her tongue out at the green-eyed wrestler.

"Jessica, I think I found it," Jane announced, returning with a silvery taffeta dress.

A grin spread across the young woman's face, "Perfect."

* * *

"Randy, Jessica… over here!" a voice yelled as flashes began to blind them as Randy stepped out of the taxi first.

"Holy shit," his mouth dropped open slightly as he stood aside for Jessica to exit the car.

The blonde woman slid out of the cab and smoothed down her dark blue jeans, "When was the last time you saw something like this?"

He shut the door behind them, "Never."

"Jessica! Jessica! Does this mean you're going to be returning at Wrestlemania?" a deep voice asked her from behind a camera.

"Did you guys just go to lunch?" another inquired.

"Where's John?" a woman asked this time.

"Is John out of the picture?"

This question seemed to cause a stir amongst the paparazzi and soon, Jessica lifted a hand over her face to shield herself from the increased amount of camera flashes. Seeing this, Randy stepped slightly in front of her, blocking her from view.

"Are you and Randy together now?"

The emerald-eyed man reached around his back and grabbed Jessica's much smaller hand, "Stay behind me, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed quietly.

"How does John feel about this?"

"Jessica! How could you do this to John?"

At this comment, Randy snarled at the men and women before him, "Move."

* * *

As the doors shut behind them, the paparazzi continued to follow the pair into the hotel, despite the protests of the multitude of staff members in the lobby.

Surrounded by cameras, Randy glanced around them for an exit strategy, but was drawing a blank as everyone crowded around them.

"Mr. Orton! Ms. McMahon!" a voice called out from the far side of the hotel lobby. "Over here! Over here!"

Randy's green eyes darted in the direction of the voice, where he found a bellhop holding open an elevator for them.

"Jessica," he began, barely moving his mouth, "There is an elevator open and waiting for us on the other side of the lobby. We're going to have to make a break for it. Time to test that knee, Princess. You ready?"

"Wrong sister, Orton. I am _not_ the princess in my family."

Internally, Randy smirked.

She was ready.

"Break," he whispered and then took off, pulling the youngest of the McMahon heirs along with him as the paparazzi struggle to catch up.

They were getting closer by the second, but then again… so were the photographers.

Behind him, he heard Jessica hiss, "Come on, you're almost there. Just keep moving."

"Quickly, Mr. Orton," the young man, whose name tag was unreadable in the chaos, urged the wrestler forward.

Finally, Randy pulled Jessica into the elevator, hit their floor number, and rapidly began pressing the door-close button until the door shut them from view.

After letting out a deep exhale of air, he turned towards the blonde on the other side of the elevator and leaned against the golden railing inside.

"Randy," she managed to sigh as she relaxed her head against the wall.

"I know," he concurred with a sigh of his own.

She buried her face in her hands, "Is it always going to be like this?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly shoved his hands into his pockets.

"It was never this way before," she shook her head and then pulled it back up to look up at him. "Is it because of the album?"

Randy shrugged his muscular shoulders, "Maybe, but it's hard for someone like you to go unnoticed."

The ding of a bell signaled that they had arrived on their floor and Randy stepped out first, checking the hallway.

"Can I come out?"

He nodded, "It's fine. They're all still downstairs. Come on, let's go back to your room."

* * *

The adrenaline in his veins was pumping well beyond any level he had grown accustomed to in his lifetime.

Maybe it was the fact that he was about to step into the ring for Wrestlemania in three days against Triple H and walk out with the title still around his waist.

Or the fact that he'd finally get to spend April 4th with the love of his life for the first time since her seventeenth birthday, almost ten years ago.

Dropping the dumbbell back onto the rack, John smiled at a day's workout well done.

... And the fact that he got to go back to his hotel room, to his girlfriend.

Turning around, the blue-eyed Massachusetts native locked eyes with the much shorter Mickie James.

"Hey, Mickie," John smiled at her and then laughed at his own joke. "No pun intended, of course."

"Yeah…" she trailed off, not a trace of a smile on her face.

"Oh come on, Mickie," he chuckled again. "You always laugh at my jokes. Why aren't you laughing?"

Her eyes avoided his intent stare and she reached up to run a hand through her blonde-highlighted hair.

His face hardened as the smile quickly faded, "Why aren't you laughing, Mickie?"

"John," she sighed and looked back up at him. "It's Jessica…"

* * *

The door of the hotel room burst open and the green-eyed man sitting on the edge of his bed instinctively got to his feet.

And found John Cena in the doorway.

"Where is she?" he asked forcefully, yet straight to the point.

"John?" a voice asked from around the corner of the wall, where the majority of the bed was hidden from view.

His chiseled features softened at the sound of the voice, "Jessica?"

Jessica appeared around the corner and walked briskly to her boyfriend, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

"Jessica," he breathed, clutching her tightly to his body, not wanting to let her go. "I was so worried."

"I'm okay," she nodded into his chest, content that she was finally with him.

"I'm going to go back to my room," Randy announced, getting to his feet and walking towards them.

John slipped one hand from around Jessica and extended it to his friend, "Thanks for looking out for her, man."

Randy shook it firmly, "Anytime. I'll give you a call later, okay?"

The older man nodded and listened as the door closed behind him.

For the last year or two, John had regarded Randy as a virtual brother. In fact, he didn't think they could be closer.

But he had protected Jessica in a dire situation that neither of them knew anything about and for that, he would be eternally grateful.

Still clutching his girlfriend tightly, he wondered to what lengths he'd have to go to protect her next time.

* * *

Shane McMahon was PISSED.

This was his area of control and his approval had been completely bypassed.

Ever since word had reached him an hour ago, he'd been off the wall. Not even Marissa could calm him down.

In his heart, he knew that no one could protect his little sister like Randy and John, but it was still the big brother's job to worry.

Especially, when his father wouldn't.

* * *

Hearing the doorknob click, Jessica rested her book on her chest and looked up to find a 6'1" muscular man leaning on the bathroom doorframe.

"What?" she asked him, frustrated by his unrelenting stare.

John wiped a few beads of water off of his blue and white Adidas shorts, "I was just wondering why you didn't sleep in."

"I kind of forgot about something important," she chuckled half-heartedly.

"Oh really?" he raised his eyebrows in surprise and pulled a black wifebeater over his head. "What'd you forget?"

Jessica bit her lip, "The hall of fame ceremony tomorrow night."

John shook his head and smiled knowingly, "You didn't get a dress, did you?"

"Oh no, I did," she assured him and sat up, scooting back to lean against the headboard. "Two hours ago."

"So then, where is it?"

"It's being delivered tomorrow morning, along with my shoes," Jessica informed him.

"How much was it?" John sat down on the edge of the bed and turned his head towards her.

"Six-hundred," she answered as she returned to her reading.

The wrestler shook his head, "Damn, girl. If you weren't paying for it, you'd run me dry!"

Her hazel eyes rolled as she flipped a page, "Says the man who's dropped over a half a million dollars on cars."

* * *

As Shane approached his father's office, his secretary quickly got to her heels.

"You can't go in there," the brunette held up a hand and adjusted her glasses with the other.

"Watch me," he growled at her and pushed into the older man's office.

"Alright, Danny…." The man continued on, despite Shane's presence in the Stamford office. "Yes, yes. Keep me posted. Goodbye."

Shane waited patiently until the headset connected with the receiver.

Then… he snapped.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!?"

"Excuse me?" the older man raised his eyebrows.

"You set the whole thing up," he seethed and approached the desk. "You set _her_ up."

"But she's fine," he waved him off.

"I am the Executive Vice President of Global Media. It is my job to oversee, not to mention approve, all publicity tactics like this one. You went over my head…"

"Dammit, Shane!" the grey-templed man rose to his feet and glared across his desk. "You're in over your head and you are out of line. Don't you think I know what I'm doing after all of these years?"

"As a businessman, yes," Shane replied and then ground his teeth together, "As a father, no."

* * *

He turned over to face his girlfriend, who was still at work on a novel, "You want to hear something funny?"

Jessica slid her bookmark between the pages and shut the book, "Sure."

"I'm nervous about presenting tomorrow night."

She eyed him intently, "Why?"

John propped himself up on an elbow and shrugged, "You saw how people cheered on Adam at New Year's Revolution, how everyone's booing me, the face, when I square off with Paul, even though he's supposed to be the heel. Every week, I go out to that ring and kill myself… and yet, every week, without fail, they hate me. I don't want to go out there and get booed off the stage. I'm supposed to be honoring William Perry… how can I do that if I can't even stand at the podium?"

"The same thing happens to Paul, just in reverse. It's not that big of a deal…"

He sat up sharply in exasperation, "That's what no one understands. It is to me."

"John," she sighed and dropped the book onto the nightstand, "I know that you like being a face. When I first started, I had the same problem as Paul. When Dwayne first started, he had the same problem as you. But I'm going to pass on to you the exact same advice that was passed on to each of us… it is only when you get no reaction at all that you have something to worry about."

* * *

"How dare you question my abilities as a parent!"

"How dare you put my sister's well-being on the line for a publicity stunt that you knew I would never approve of!"

Vince sighed and rubbed his forehead.

Like father, like son.

Stubborn as mules.

Stubborn as Vincent J. McMahon.

"Son, I would never do anything to intentionally put my daughter in harm's way," Vince assured him, taking a seat once more.

Shane scoffed at his statement, "Says the man who wanted to script me as the father of Stephanie's baby…"

"Enough!" the elder McMahon put a hand up to stop him. "I am finishing up arrangements for tomorrow, dealing with some roster issues in preparation of FCW, and I have to catch a flight with your mother at six. I really don't have the time for this."

"I love it," Shane laughed sickeningly. "You don't have the time…"

"Look, I'll leave everything to you from now on. You approve it all…"

"And you won't be tipping off the paparazzi anytime soon, correct?"

"Shane…"

"You won't be tipping them off anytime soon," he continued to pressure him, "CORRECT?"

"Fine, fine," he gave in and shuffled through some papers. "Satisfied?"

His son nodded contently, "Absolutely."

* * *

As per her directions, Jessica's dress was delivered in a light pink garment bag around ten the following morning. While John had repeatedly begged to see it, she refused to allow him to do so, insisting that he wait until she was actually in the outfit.

In anticipation of the high-caliber event, Linda had taken it upon herself to rent one of the hotel ballrooms and booked a variety of hair and makeup artists to set up chairs for all of the Divas, as the regular road staff of hair and makeup artists was given the night off so that they could attend the event.

It seemed as though every Raw, Smackdown, and ECW Diva had found their way into a chair.

Currently, Jessica was sitting at a station which belonged to a platinum-pixied woman named Charlie, with Maria seated on her left and Mickie on her right.

"So what color is your dress?" Charlie asked her, applying the foundation to the young woman's face.

"It's hard to explain," Jessica informed her, scrunching her nose slightly. "At first glance, I thought it was deep silver, but after looking at it in the mirror, I realized it's a grayish green. Technically, it's moss-colored."

"That sounds lovely," she smiled through her British accent. "Do you want to go green or smoky for tonight?"

"Smoky," the caramel blonde decided.

Charlie smiled down at the young woman, "A dramatic look for a dramatic return. I like it."

* * *

After a half hour, Charlie handed her over to the hair stylist named Kelli, whose hair was shoulder length and could have easily been the color of blood. Then again, it could have easily been a Lita wig, too.

Kelli styled her blonde locks into loose, yet dramatic curls that added to her glamorous look for the night.

"Take a look in the mirror," she instructed her client and spun her chair around to face the vanity.

Jessica smiled at her own reflection, "I'm back."

* * *

"Can I look now?"

"No," Jessica shook her head, her curls bouncing along with her as she reapplied some lip gloss.

"How about now?"

"Nope," she denied him again. "Keep those eyes closed, but reach out ahead of you and help me zipper up."

"You're such a demanding little thing, aren't you?"

"John!" she gasped with widened eyes.

"I'm kidding," he chuckled and reached out, clumsily searching for her zipper.

"Did you find it?" she asked him impatiently.

John rolled his closed eyes, "Don't you think you would have known by now?"

Jessica's open eyes rolled this time, "Just shut up and zipper it."

Finally, he managed to pull the zipper up and Jessica was firmly in the dress.

"Can I see it _now_?" he whined.

The young woman turned around, and adjusted herself within the confines of the dress.

After smoothing out a few creases, she smiled, "You can open your eyes now."

Barely waiting a second, John's crystalline blue orbs opened and a smile swept across his chiseled face.

For a brief moment, he could have sworn that he was in the presence of a goddess.

The dress was a silver-toned moss color with a thin halter strap and a sweetheart neckline. The bodice was heavily beaded and corset-like, with a gathered Basque waistline in both the front and the back. The dress was completed high-low skirt with a sweep train in the back, giving him a clear view of the strapped heels she was also wearing.

"So…" she trailed off, locking her slender fingers together in front of her body and staring at the floor. "What do you think?"

"I think that I'm about to be the envy of all men, everywhere," John replied with a sparkle in his azure eyes. "You look beautiful, Jess."

"Thank you," she blushed and looked back up at him. "Should we go downstairs and get to the limo?"

"Yeah," he nodded and handed her the matching beaded purse with a few rhinestones, which complimented the diamond drop earrings she was also sporting. "I think it's time that the world gets to see what they've been missing the last seven months."

* * *

John pressed a few buttons on his cell phone before sliding it into his jacket pocket, "Randy and Sam are already inside."

"Hmmm?" Jessica looked back at him from the window. "Oh, sorry. Yeah, she said to me this afternoon that she'd probably get there first."

Her boyfriend slid a hand on top of hers on the leather interior in-between them, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she sighed and patted his knee. "It's just a lot to take in."

"I get it," he nodded as they began to hear the screaming and yelling of a large group of people and the limo crawled to a stop. "We're here. You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be…"

* * *

"Wow!" Jessica beamed as she and John entered the Rosemont Theatre arm in arm, finally making their way past the lined crowd. "I guess they didn't forget me."

"No one could ever forget you," he shook his head as they continued to walk through the lobby.

"Jessica McMahon?" a deep voice asked a ways behind her.

She knew the voice, but couldn't put her finger on whom it belonged to. Subsequently, she decided to turn around.

Her eyes immediately landed on the man in question, almost fifty years of age, with middle-parted black, stringy hair that fell a little past his shoulders.

The realization hit her almost instantly and she smiled.

"It is you," the older man grinned back at her. "My God, I'd know that smile anywhere."

John's jaw nearly dropped to the floor, "Is that…?"

"Yes, it is," she nodded, unsure if she was answering the man or her boyfriend.

"I don't think I've seen you since you were seven years old," he shook his head in disbelief and marvel.

Jessica agreed, "Something like that. How've you been?"

"I've been doing well," he replied, walking towards the couple and giving Jessica a hug. "I just can't get over you. You used to hug me hello and barely make it around my legs, but now… you're all grown up. I can't even believe it."

The blonde laughed heartily as she pulled away from the older man, "It's hard for me to believe sometimes, too. I can't believe you're actually here."

"You want to know something?" he leaned in close, so that only Jess and John could hear his words. "Neither can I."

"Oh come on," she fanned her hand at him, "Like we could go on forever without having Bret Hart in the Hall of Fame."

"You'll be in here someday, too, Jess," he nodded with a grin of his own.

"You mean you've watched me?"

Bret raised his eyebrows at the young woman, "Don't think I haven't seen some of your matches just because your father and I have our differences. Plus, truth be told, Dallas and Blade still love this business," he added, referencing his two sons.

"It's in the blood, Bret," she sighed and nodded. "If anyone knows that it's me."

"Very true, Jessica," he concurred with a laugh of his own. "Very true. Listen, a bunch of the Harts and Smiths are here, but I've yet to find my sister, Diana, and nephew, Harry, so I'm going to go look for her. It was nice seeing you again, kid, and it was nice to meet you, John."

"Yeah, you too, Bret. Maybe I'll see you around?" she asked him with a devious smirk on her face and arched an eyebrow.

Bret let out a chuckle as he walked away, "Never say never, McMahon..."

"Did you hear what he said?" John turned to her excitedly as the older man slipped well beyond ear shot. "He said that it was nice meeting me. BRET HART said that it was nice to meet me!"

"Wow," she patted him on the chest and began to laugh, "Somewhere in there is still the little boy I met all those years ago. Do you know how much that scares me?"

"No more than it scares me," he shook his head as they began filing into the auditorium to find their seats.

Jessica shot a glance his way, "Somehow, I highly doubt that."

* * *

The moment they came into view beyond the doors to the theatre, a chorus of cheers and screams erupted from the balcony of fans above.

"We love you, Jess!" a group of guys bellowed down to the Diva from up above.

With a grin the size of the Brooklyn Bridge, the blonde craned her neck to see where the chant had come from and blew the men a kiss, sending them into a frenzy-like state.

"Rebel… rebel…" the deep voices began to repeat.

Jessica shook her head and continued to smile, feeling more at home than she had in all the time she was back in West Newbury.

Soon though, a chorus of higher voices began to join in the chant, "Rebel… rebel…"

The usher escorted them down to their seats at the front of the bustling auditorium, in the first row, somewhere between Shane and Marissa, Stephanie and Paul, and Vince and Linda.

The voices began to drown out everything and everyone around her, "Rebel! Rebel! Rebel!"

John took a seat first and waited for her to do the same, "You hear that?"

She fondly looked up at the balcony, at every man, woman, and child chanting her nickname over and over again, "After craving it for over seven months, I'd recognize that noise anywhere."

* * *

**A/N: I think that this update of She's a Rebel II: Unravel was my longest update EVER. Of ANYTHING.**

**I've been working on this one for a while now and I really like it.**

**I've also had Jessica's dress all picked out and sitting on my desktop for a week now, as well. Check her blog for more info on it, including a picture!**

**So, now we're officially in April of 2006, which means this next chapter is going to focus on Jessica's birthday! YAY!**

**There's that chapter, which will mark the last of April, probably one in May, one in June, and either one or two in July and then that's it for SAR II. So this story will either be 20 or 21 chapters long.**

**Can you believe I already have the first two chapters, along with the last chapter, of She's a Rebel III written? I've had them done since December, no less. I even know the title, but I won't tell you that until the first chapter is out. Sorry, no games this time.**

**Chapter 16 garnered 13 reviews, which while incredibly awesome, was down from the 18 reviews I had received the previous chapter. Still, I appreciate all your support and hope this supersized chapter will get me some more feedback! PLEASE:-)**

**Shout-outs:**

**Sideways anger – **Aww, I didn't mean to make you all tear-eyed. I'm glad that this chapter had an effect on you, though. I was happy to see Hayden Panettiere on the issue of Seventeen that just arrived in my mailbox the other day. She's such a good role model for girls and managed to snag Milo! And yeah, that Wikipedia thing… HYSTERICAL.

**Chain Gang Princess – **I am so glad you enjoyed this chapter! I hope you liked the little blast from the past in the form of Bret Hart, too.

**Goddessofthenite – **It's a good thing I got my prom dress already or I'd still be waiting on those damn pictures. This chapter is meant to be a happy one, so I hope you laugh!

**JCEdgeRKO – **Yeah, McCena is definitely adorable! I think that the Bret Hart/Jessica McMahon conversation is really cute too.

**Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 – **Yeah, I thought it was really funny too. If he saw it, I don't know what I'd do. Then again, I am going to RAW on 4/28…

**Westfan – **I'm sorry to keep you waiting on the update, but I hope this one's more than satisfying and was worth it! You definitely are managing it just fine, I must say. And I STILL am floored and honored by your dedication. Thank you SO much for that, Kasey.

**Giftiebee – **Well, what can I say? Crazy knows crazy.

**Inday – **This one looked a little dramatic for them too, didn't it?

**TheReallKellyAnne – **Often, I like to follow my tearjerkers with happy updates, I guess it's a pattern of mine. I hope you like this one too.

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – **I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother, but I hope it evoked memories of good times you shared.

**Adrian Jade – **Thank you!

**The.Black.Psycho.Barbie – **Finally, I have trumped you. Thank God. I'm glad someone can finally attest to the fact that they saw it! I thought it was hysterical!!! I was rolling on the floor laughing. I actually went and created a Wikipedia page for Jessica of my own on FrontPage for my own use, to keep track of all of the details of her life. It's actually coming in handy, I must admit!

**CandaceMcMahon – **I hope you like this chapter as much as you liked the last one!

**Queen Chaos-Hardy – **I told you that you'd be making an appearance, Charlie! I thought of the woman's appearance and then was stumped when it came to a name and was like "Oh my God! CHARLIE!!!!" Kudos to you for reading both of them… it always astounds me when people can do that. Especially, in as short of a period of time as you did! Great job, girl!

**On a side note, did anyone else notices, besides me and Kasey (Westfan), that John's ass looked HUGE in his jean shorts last Monday? Cause I swear it did.**

**Um… so that's it for now! Read and review, everyone!!!!**

**Rebel… out!**

**Danielle**


	18. Chapter 18

The sunlight burned her eyes as they cracked open, bypassing the drawn curtains in the hotel room.

Internally, she mused at the fact that no matter how tightly she pulled them shut, the light always managed to find its way through.

After glancing over at the clock, Jessica slowly peeled John's arm off of her waist and slid out of bed.

Not really caring how bright it was outside, she pulled apart the drapes and opened the doors, walking out onto the terrace.

At 7:30 in the morning, the streets below her were still bustling with activity.

In a navy razorback tank top and matching deep blue flannel pants, she was only a little bit cold, but not nearly as freezing as she would have been in the same spot month earlier.

Smiling, she reflected on the Hall of Fame ceremony only three days ago.

Her fans were more than vocal about missing her, proving just how much they wanted The Rebel back.

The loyal people of the WWE wanted her to return as soon as possible…

… and she was going to do just that.

* * *

As Jessica carefully crept back into bed, careful not to wake her sleeping boyfriend, a deep, yet drowsy voice let her know that she had failed, "You're up early."

Her blonde hair cascaded over her pillow as her head rolled to face him, "Yeah, I guess so."

John smiled and pressed a light kiss to her cool lips, "Happy Birthday."

"Yeah, it is," she nodded with a smile of her own.

John reached out and ran a strong hand down her slender arm, "I know exactly what you mean."

"I'm glad you're here."

"Me too," he nodded and kissed her bare shoulder. "What do you want to do to celebrate? I know that Randy and Sam want to meet up with us later tonight, maybe go out to a club."

"When's Sam leaving?" Jessica asked curiously, rolling over so that her back was pressed into his muscular chest.

"Tomorrow," he replied, wrapping an arm around her torso.

"She's a nice girl," she decided, snuggling into his warm body. "Good for him too, I like her."

"I like her too, but…" John lightly kissed the top of her head. "I like my birthday girl more. What do you say I take you out for breakfast? A real one… not the same old breakfast that the hotels serve every day."

Jessica laced her two hands around his, resting near her stomach, "I'd like that."

* * *

"John," she grinned as she entered the small restaurant, packed with locals, "I thought you were going to take me out to a fancy restaurant."

"No, that's lunch time," he shook his head as they walked hand in hand up to the hostess. "You don't like it here?"

"That's not it at all," the caramel blonde assured him firmly. "I love it here, this is perfect. This is a real restaurant."

The blue-eyed man laughed, "Good, I did my research well then."

The older brunette at the podium greeted them with a smile, "Two?"

The couple nodded in unison and trailed the woman to a small booth at the other end of the restaurant.

She placed two menus down on the table and gestured for them to take a seat, "Enjoy your meal."

With ease, Jessica slid into the crimson booth and tried to stifle her laughter as John found difficulty doing the same. Finally taking pity on him, she reached out and pulled the non-stationary table towards herself slightly.

"Thanks," he mumbled in embarrassment, picking up and scanning the menu on the table.

_Mothers be good to your daughters…_

Immediately, the birthday girl began to fumble through her pocketbook, searching for her phone and finally found it as the chorus began to wane, "Hello?"

"Happy Birthday, Jessie!" a female voice brightly exclaimed, causing her to pull the phone away from her ear slightly.

Still, she couldn't help but smile, "Thanks, Mom. How'd you know I was awake?"

"Shane saw you and John leave this morning," Linda informed her daughter. "Speaking of which… hold on _one_ second…" she trailed off.

"Happy Birthday, Jess," another voice chimed in its place, but this time, was slightly deeper. "Sorry for spilling the beans to Mom, but she was about to burst."

Jessica laughed, "It's okay. I understand."

There was a slight scuffle on the other end of the line and a feminine voice came back over the phone line, "So how does it feel to be twenty eight?"

"No different than when I was twenty seven, but today's just going to be a good day, Mariss. I feel it," she nodded happily. "Listen, I've got to go, but…"

"Wait, wait!" her sister-in-law halted her. "Someone else wants to talk!"

"Alright," the younger woman sighed, waiting impatiently.

"Happy Birthday, sweetheart," a deep, gravelly voice cut into the conversation.

Her face softened at the words, "Daddy?"

"Who'd you think it was?" he chuckled slightly at her question.

"I don't know… but what did you guys do? Get a whole brigade together?"

"Uhh…" Vince trailed off in amusement. "I guess so."

Jessica snorted loudly, "That was an interesting tactic. Look, Dad, I have to go… I'm out at breakfast, but I'll see you guys later on, alright?"

"Count on it, Jessie," her father assured her. "You tell John I say hello."

"I will, bye," she finally managed to get off of the phone and turned back to her boyfriend with a smile. "Dad says hi. I swear, I think sometimes, he loves you more than he loves me."

"That's because after all these years, he's sick of you," the older of the couple shrugged and took a sip of water from his cup.

She nearly choked on her own water at the comment, "Real nice, Cena."

_I'm too sexy for my shirt…_

"Sorry," the young woman apologized as she reached for her cell phone again. "Hey, Randy."

"Happy Birthday," the gravelly voice greeted her on the other end. "How does it feel to be old?"

"I'm what… three years older?" Jessica raised her eyebrows. "So what does that make you?"

Randy chuckled, "Me? I mean, you know what they say… men age like a fine wine, the older they get, the better they are, and you know me, I get better looking with age."

The blonde rolled her eyes and clapped her fingers together like a beak for her boyfriend's benefit, as he relayed their orders to their server, "I seem to remember you being a good looking kid. What happened?"

Despite his friend's insult, the third generation superstar was quick with a retort, "You met Cena… and your standards have suffered greatly ever since."

"You know what? I'm having breakfast… I'll deal with your conceited ass later. Bye," she spat at him and hung up the phone.

"That man is such a tool," John shook his head as the waitress returned with two glasses of water. "Such a tool."

"And somewhere along the line, I was stupid enough to call him one of my best friends," she shrugged and took a long sip from her glass.

The opening two chords of Limp Bizket's "Break Stuff" pierced the air and Jessica immediately pressed _ignore_ on her cell.

John smirked knowingly, "You do know that's going to be one hell of a voicemail."

"Psh… I'm the birthday girl. Not even my own sister's allowed to piss me off today."

* * *

_The Rebel's Release – 4/4/06 (a.k.a. MY BIRTHDAY!)_

_Happy Birthday to me!_

_It's only four 'o clock in the afternoon and my inbox is more than exploding with birthday wishes, so thank you all for that._

_This morning, I had the best breakfast since I was still living with my grandmother and lunch was at a really nice Italian restaurant in the heart of Chicago. The food was absolutely wonderful._

_Tonight, John and I are going out with one of our close friends and his girlfriend to a club for some dinner, dancing, and… OF COURSE… drinks._

_I'm sure I'll have a ton of pictures posted on here because God knows, someone will tip them off there and I'll have a cake. Sigh._

_Well, I'm sure I'll be writing again tomorrow!_

_Peace out, g-scouts!_

_Jessica _

After a quick shower, along with a thorough blow drying and curling of her hair, Jessica began to search for a shirt to wear.

"Hey, John?" she called to him through the bathroom door, where the shower was clearly running.

"Yeah?" he replied back loudly, but was still quieted by the rushing water.

His girlfriend began rummaging through her suitcase, "What shirt should I wear tonight?"

"Christ, Jess," John sighed on the other end of the door, shutting the water off. "I didn't happen to watch you pack, so I don't exactly know your wardrobe, now do I?"

Her hazel eyes quickly rolled, "You're no help."

"Not what you said last night…" he sang in response.

"Whatever," Jessica mumbled and adjusted her black bra strap as she continued to look for a shirt. "Can you at least give me a suggestion?"

The door clicked open and as the young woman turned around, she nearly slammed right into John, who was standing in front of her in a pair of faded blue jeans and nothing else.

"You do know I'd prefer if you wore nothing, right?" he wiggled his eyebrows playfully at her.

"Somehow, I don't think Samantha would enjoy that nearly as much as you would," she laughed and patted him on his chest. "Good try, though."

He shrugged and walked over to his own suitcase to pull out a clean shirt, deciding on a dark blue, long sleeve button down over a white wifebeater, "It was worth a shot."

Jessica scrunched her nose and pulled out a black halter top with a mock collar tie at the back of the neck, that would fall just to her hips, "What do you think of this one?"

John eyed her for a moment as he buttoned the cuffs of the shirt and then nodded, "I mean, if you can't just go in the bra and jeans you're wearing now, then I like it."

She smiled and shook her head in amusement, "I'll take that as a yes."

As they sat in the back of the taxi, Jessica couldn't help but allow her mind to wander.

Just over a year ago, she was sitting in some crowded club with Randy, who had just lost the previous night's mid-card match to the Undertaker, celebrating her birthday in Los Angeles.

Despite the smile that her best friend in the business often brought to her face, she couldn't help but despise having to spend the night without her other best friend, the one that had known her since she was seven years old.

* * *

"_Jess…" a hand waved in front of her face._

"_What?" she looked up behind her and shook her head. "Oh, sorry. What were you saying?"_

_The green-eyed man couldn't help but chuckle at her daze, "I asked you if you wanted to dance, but now I'm wondering if you're okay? You look like you're somewhere else."_

_Jessica waved a red-manicured hand at him, "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's dance…" _

But once she snapped back into reality, she realized that someone was talking on the other side of the car.

"Wow," John smiled and rubbed a hand over his head. "That's great. Thanks for calling. May? Alright, sounds good… I'll talk to my girlfriend and I'll call to make arrangements with you later. Thank you again. Okay then, bye."

"Well that sounded like a happy phone call," she mused at her boyfriend as he pocketed his phone.

"It was," he concurred with a nod. "That was one of the breeders who I got you the dog from. She said the puppies were born last week and that we'll be ready to get ours at the end of next month."

A bright grin spread across her lips, "That was a pretty happy phone call. I can't wait to bring her home."

"_Her_ home?" he arched an eyebrow at her. "Who said anything about a girl dog?"

Jessica shrugged, "I did. I grew up next door to five boys… and quite honestly, with the amount of testosterone that you exude, I think have another girl in the house to balance things out wouldn't hurt."

"Yeah, well… we'll see."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes at him. "But I must admit, today is a pretty good day. It can't get any better than this."

John smirked away from her and stared out of his own window.

_You just wait… _

John intertwined his large fingers with the much smaller ones of his beloved girlfriend as the burly security guard at the door. With a nod of the head, the cocoa-skinned man allowed the pair to pass and they breezed right on through the doorway.

The strobe lights of the club had not yet begun to pulse and a spray of white and lavender lights littered the entrance way to the club.

Almost immediately, a series of familiar chords began to play and Jessica looked over at John, "That's my song!"

"What's your song?" he asked her quizzically, not understanding what she was talking about.

She pointed to the ceiling, "This one. You know, Green Day… She's a Rebel…"

John squinted his eyes as he struggled to hear the music and then slowly nodded, "Would you look at that. It _is_ your song."

"Have you heard from Randy or Sam?" she asked him as they wound around a corner.

He laughed in reply, "You must have been zoned out for a while there, babe. They called while we were in the cab and they're here already."

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows, "They're here already?"

"Yeah," John nodded as the hallway began to open up and green and violet tones coated the space beyond it. "And so is everyone else."

Her head whipped towards him on her left, "Everyone else."

"Yes, everyone else," he repeated with a grin and then gestured to the dance floor in front of them.

"SURPRISE!" the crowded room shouted as she turned to face them.

"Oh my God!" Jessica buried her face in her hands in shock and then pulled them away, a smile adorned on her face. "How long have you had this planned?"

"A month," Randy piped up from one of the circular tables around the dance floor. "It took a lot to get you out here."

"Including a fight," John muttered under his breath.

"Well… thank you!" she continued to grin as she surveyed the crowd.

Around the dance floor was a series of scattered, round tables with around eight to ten people seated at each, adorned with white tablecloths.

At the first table, dead-center, sat her mother, father, sister, brother-in-law, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. Chances were, that was the table she'd be at for a large portion of the night, as well.

At the second table, sat the majority of the Divas, including Mickie, Candice, Maria, Michelle, Ashley, Torrie, Victoria, and Melina.

The third table held a few of her close friends, including Randy Orton and Samantha, Dave Bautista, Amy Dumas, Trish Stratus, and Adam Copeland.

The rest of the tables were scattered with WWE personnel and the rest of the wrestlers and Divas of the WWE, including a few of those whom had worked dark matches the previous evening.

* * *

The first hour or two of the evening was dedicated to dancing on the green and purple lighted dance floor, followed by a incredibly delicious meal.

After the main course had ended, Randy had taken it upon himself to grab a microphone and stand directly in front of the DJ booth.

"So… I thought it'd be kind of nice if some of us came up here and said some stuff about Jessica," he announced, gripping the mic as though he was about to cut a promo. "And remember, Stephanie… they have to be nice things."

The pregnant woman's eyes narrowed to small slits and she scowled noticeably, causing her husband's laughter to cease immediately.

After the laughter subsided, his gravelly voice continued, "Now, I've known Jessica McMahon for a very, VERY long time. When we first met, she was seven and I was four. I swear, she was good at bossing people around even back then!" he added with a chuckle. "But most importantly, when I first came up through OVW, completely green and in over my head, not to mention, with a chip on my shoulder the size of my ego, she was there for me, even though every other member of the roster saw me as some snot-nosed kid who was only there because of his father. Jess, you looked past my last name, and my attitude, and you became one of my best friends," Randy's smile quickly morphed into a smug grin. "AND… you're the only girl that's _ever_been able to resist the Legend Killer!"

Everyone, including John, couldn't help but laugh at that comment.

"I love you… and your way of making everyone's day just a little better with a simple 'hello.' Happy Birthday, Jess," Randy concluded, raising his beer bottle up in the air before taking a long swig.

Applause littered the tables as Stephanie and Paul rose to their feet.

"Our turn!" the rotund woman exclaimed brightly and waddled up with a glass of water in her hand.

The caramel blonde seated in-between her boyfriend and best friend ran a hand over her face in horror, "Oh God."

"Come on, Jess… I warned her," Randy patted her on the shoulder, "I'm sure she'll take my advice."

Stephanie cleared her throat for dramatic effect, "What do you say about the sister who once punched you in the face and made you bleed on Thanksgiving?"

Randy's smiled immediately dropped, "Or not."

Paul pulled the microphone from his wife's grasp, "I think what Steph is _trying_ to say is that like all siblings, they certainly have had their differences over the years, but in the end, there's no one else she'd rather have as a sister, and who I'd rather have as a sister-in-law. Happy Birthday, Jess," he concluded and raised his own bottle before quickly steering his wife back to the family table.

As her brother-in-law breezed past her table, he shot her an apologetic glance, "Hormones."

The corners of her lips twitched slightly as Amy took the floor.

"I remember a time when Jessica McMahon was my only friend in all of the WWE, back at the start of my career… and a little over a year and a half ago," the redhead spoke lowly, a wine glass in her left hand. "During a trying time in which every single word that came out of my mouth was scrutinized, she never once asked me my reasons, never judged me. She even made Randy move out temporarily so that I would have an easier time."

"Noooo problem!" Jessica interjected enthusiastically from her seat.

Chuckling, Amy proceeded, "And while it is always an honor to wear the Women's Title around my waist… I wish it was around yours, Jess. In another few months, however, I'll have more bruises on my body than I can count when you return… and I wouldn't have it any other way," she concluded and raised her glass again. "Happy Birthday, girl."

The crowded room applauded as Amy walked over to her friend and embraced her tightly before sitting back down between Adam and Dave.

Once Amy sat, a slough of co-workers took turns at the microphone, including her Diva counterparts, her parents, Marissa and Shane, Dave, Adam, and an assortment of other wrestlers.

Slowly, but surely, a multicolor-haired man, with streaks of green and purple matching the room, made his way to the top of the wooden floor.

Jessica's eyes followed him attentively as he fumbled with the mic and bottle of beer in his hands.

"I think it's common knowledge that a long time ago, back when there was no brand extension… and I painted myself from head to toe," he added for comedic effect, "I used to date a wonderful young woman by the name of Jessica McMahon. Unfortunately, things didn't work out quite like we had hoped, but we remained close friends…" Jeff trailed off, slightly overwhelmed. "Somewhere along the line, though, my demons caught up with me. There were only two things in life that I cared about back then… wrestling and meth."

Hearing his heartfelt words, the youngest heir to the McMahon fortune felt her eyes begin to sting and water.

"But you, Jess… you knew that. You knew that if I was forced to choose, I'd never do it willingly, I'd never do it for myself. So you… you did what I never thought you'd do," he chewed on the inside of his cheek. "You fired me."

A few heads turned in her direction, including John's, and she fought diligently in her own head to ignore the looks.

"And for a while, I'm not going to lie, I hated you for it," Jeff shrugged, the amber liquid dancing around inside the glass bottle. "But I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you. When I first met you, I always knew you'd be something special, Jess," he sighed and paused before looking up and locking his deep green eyes with her gold ones. "But I never thought you'd be the one to save my life. So happy birthday, Jessica… and may you have many more, one for every single birthday that you helped to me to take back."

With tears streaming down her cheeks, Jessica slowly rose to her feet as Jeff drew nearer and nearer, smiling at him as he stood before her, "That was beautiful."

Jeff shrugged and stared down at his shoes, ignoring the person passing by them, "You deserve it."

"I can't believe that after everything I've done, you don't hate me," she shook her head in amazement, wiping a tear away from her eye.

"After everything you've done?" he raised his eyebrows at her. "You left me because your grandmother died, Jessica. You had a reason… it wasn't like you cheated on me. And as for firing me… you did what you had to do. I could never hold that grudge against you."

She nodded weakly, "I-I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?"

"Yeah…"

"For what?"

"For never coming back," she answered him quietly.

Jeff placed a hand lightly on her shoulder and walked behind her, keeping his hand on her, "You and me… we were never meant to be together, but you see that man up there?" he asked her, pointing to the floor, where John was retrieving a microphone. "You are. Don't let go."

She could only bob her head lightly as she felt the touch of the North Carolinian disappear and looked back to the dance floor.

"Hey everyone," John addressed the crowded room of guests. "I hope you're having a good time. If everyone could please do me a favor… and gather around the floor. Jess, can you come up here please… stand up at the front of the crowd?"

Finally regaining her composure, Jessica's strapped sandals clicked across the polished maple surface and she stood at the foot of the dance floor, "I'm here."

"Good," John nodded, his bright blue eyes changing to a rather familiar shade of azure. "Now, it's hard to follow up something like that, especially something as heartfelt as what Jeff said, but I'm going to try."

Suddenly, the WWE Champion faltered and glanced around the room.

Finally, his roaming eyes abruptly stopped and a smirk crossed his face, "Hey, Hebner! Give me a beat!"

Out of nowhere, Brian Hebner began pushing through the crowd, a microphone in one hand, and began to beat box.

Standing behind Amy and Jessica, Trish's eyes widened, "No way!"

_It was a cold day, _

_Back a ways in December_,

_But I swear that it's a day_

_I'll always remember._

_I was eight years old,_

_Just chilling out a home,_

_Even though with four other brothers,_

_I was never alone._

_There was a knock at the door,_

_It was a quarter to four,_

_It was the stepson and granddaughter _

_Of the woman next door._

_It started with my older brother,_

_It started with a pink mitten,_

_But from the moment I met her,_

_I knew I was smitten._

_She moved in that week_

_And I knew I was lucky_

_Cause only this girl stopped_

_The school days from being sucky._

Jessica's jaw dropped open and she began laughing hysterically as she turned to Amy, "Did you know?"

"Girl," Amy shook her head, "I don't think _anyone_ knew he was gonna do this."

_We went through it all together,_

_Elementary school… middle school… and high school together._

_The older we grew,_

_The closer we got,_

_I helped her through some,_

_She helped me through a lot._

_At seventeen, I'll admit,_

_I kind of got stupid._

_She wanted her best friend,_

_I was blinded by Cupid._

_We both went of to college,_

_A few hours away,_

_But I finally saw her again_

_On Christmas Day._

Trish nudged her in the side at the mention of the long-fabled Christmas before Wrestlemania and she couldn't help but blush at the attention.

_She gave me so much,_

_I could never give enough,_

_She gave me hope, she gave me dreams,_

_And some really cool wrestling stuff._

Even Vince couldn't help but laugh at his daughter's boyfriend's rap.

_There was more than the eye,_

_She was always more than she seemed,_

_And at eighteen years old,_

_She gave me a dream._

_And a little while later,_

_I through it all away,_

_And I regretted it for nearly ten years,_

_Every single day._

_But with a little help from the past_

_And some divine intervention_

_I finally managed_

_To regain her attention._

_It took a little while,_

_And a little brown book,_

_For her to finally step back_

_And take another look_

_At the guy she'd known for all of her life_

_And who really understood_

_Everything she loved and looked for_

_Like no one else would._

_Even though she's out of commission,_

_She's never out of my mind._

_She's the greatest woman_

_I could ever hope to find._

_And as we celebrate_

_Birthday number twenty-eight today,_

_There's something on my mind_

_That I've just got to say._

_I love you more than life,_

_I'm so happy you're my girl,_

_Because Jessica Juliette McMahon,_

_You make me feel like the luckiest man in the world._

As John concluded his rap, the entire room began to whistle and clap for him.

Jessica could only shake her head and smile at the boyish grin that appeared on his face as he approached her.

"What'd you think?" he asked her, his azure eyes twinkling as she stared at his dimpled cheeks.

"I think," she started and kissed him lightly on the lips, "That was the only rap of yours that I've ever liked."

"That's interesting… you want to know why?" he arched an eyebrow at her, encircling her waist with his arms.

"Okay…" Jessica trailed off and smirked at him. "I'll bite. Why?"

John reached out a tanned hand and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, "You're the only woman I've ever loved."

* * *

**A/N: This chapter took me forever to write… but I think, after a few re-writes of certain parts, I am finally happy with it.**

**Unfortunately, this is most likely going to be my last update for about a week or two, as I am leaving tonight for Florida to visit my grandparents and will not have internet access for the majority of my trip.**

**Rest assured, I'll be writing plenty. I've got three one-shots in the works, possibly four, a More Than Words update (for which you should check my profile page because I have a banner up for it), and DEFINITELY an Only One update.**

**Speaking of updates, I recommend checking out Westfan's Courage from the Heart, as the one and only Jessica McMahon is featured in it! Soooooo cool, my friends!**

**On a side note, RAW last night was amazing. John and Randy make an AMAZING team together. I think that was the first time they had teamed together… but that move on Cody Rhodes, as much as I love the kid… was AMAZING.**

**Anyhoo…**

**I apologize if my replies to your reviews are not as long as usual, but as of this very moment, I only have about 30 minutes before I have to jet from my house.**

**Shout-outs:**

**Goddessofthenight – **Yes, you do. And I wouldn't expect you to do anything less than flaunt it in everyone's faces.

**Giftiebee – **Thanks, Britt… you lucky you-know-what who got to see that amazing match last night that I'm in love with!

**Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 – **This update may not be as long, but it's up there. I hope you like this one!

**Westfan - **Oh, dear Kasey… I am so anxious to see what you think of this one. I know I've been talking about it for weeks and it has taken forever. Thank goodness for your updates, which have been inspirational to me. And yeah… we're the only ones who noticed John's ass… but hey, can you blame me for having my eyes glued to it!

**CandaceMcMahon – **I thought you'd like that little Shane appearance. Hehe.

**Sideways anger – **I think that Shane happens to be a really good guy. I wouldn't want to write him any other way. This is a long chapter too, just not as long. And yeah… Milo Ventimiglia? On my top five… for certain. The others are John, of course, Adam Levine, David Wright, and tied are Hayden Christensen/Steven Strait. Whatever… I'm entitled.

**Sailormama – **Glad you're all caught up. Vince has his moments, of course.

**Queen Chaos-Hardy – **You definitely need to call me soon. Yay! Glad you loved it… I hope you like Jeff in this one. And yeah, about that fourth one-shot…

**Jada951 – **Wait until she returns… SOON.

**Chain Gang Princess – **I like those little blasts from the past. Speaking of which, SAR III… hint hint.

**Mrs. Jones-Styles – **Wow! I can't believe you read BOTH of them so fast! Great job… and it's always a compliment when I turn anti-Cena's into pro-Cena's for my stories. I AM doing my part!

**Dani – **Great name, by the way. Yeah, drop me a line and I'll definitely help you out. Same as my penname, at AOL (dot) com. I might not answer it for a few days, but I will get to it. I swear.

**Inday – **Eh… my prom dress was three hundred bucks. Still, remember… she's the heiress. And a Diva. 'Nuff said.

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – **Don't worry about how long it takes you. It took me a while to update! You needed to study, girlfriend. Keep those grades up. What'd you think of the rap?

**The.Black.Psycho.Barbie – **First of all, don't call me little girl. In two weeks, I'll have a full five years on you. In the words of DX, suck it. Now that our regular banter is out of the way, I'm glad you liked the chapter. I'll check out that story when I come back home.

**xtobelovedx – **Another one of you midnight-owls! I am incredibly impressed! I'm so glad you like this story… I hope you liked this chapter.

**Now, with less than seventeen days to go until my eighteenth birthday, I'm going to be INCREDIBLY busy writing away. I expect you guys to be incredibly busy reviewing too! I'll try and do a full-scale post (which would mean four chapters and four one shots for a total of eight posts) right before my birthday, which is when I'll be coming home.**

**AND… with this one, we'll be reaching number TWO HUNDRED! We've already broken the review total for She's a Rebel I! Keep up the great reviewing!**

**ENJOY and ROCK ON!**

**Danielle**


	19. Chapter 19

**Happy Birthday… to me! In honor of my 18****th**** birthday on today, April 4****th****, I wanted to get you guys a post.**

**And if any of you loyalists out there feel like cooking me up a special birthday present one-shot… I'd be overjoyed. Love you all!**

**Read on!**

* * *

It had been nearly five years since she had last been in this building. The scene was still so familiar to her nose, a stench reeking of sweat with air so dense, it could be could be cut by a knife.

Five years ago, she had blonde and red hair, not to mention a title around her waste. More importantly, it had been her choice to come here.

Back then, she wasn't alone. Now, it was just her. No Dwayne at her side, no gold draped across her abdomen. This time, she was truly alone.

The faint echoes of dull thuds pricked her ear as she walked through the hallway, her feet gliding across the tiles of their own volition. You never forgot a place like this, a place where stars were born and legends came to teach before their own stars faded away.

The labyrinth of corridors soon ended and the blonde stepped into the vast room, slightly littered with bodies.

"It's been a while," a voice announced from her left.

Turning around, Jessica caught sight of Al Snow, leaning against the back wall, "Too long. Although, I'd rather be here under better circumstances."

"All in due time," he nodded in understanding and then pushed off of the wall. "I didn't tell anyone you were coming."

"Good," she smiled and stared back at the ring in the center of the expansive room.

"I'm handing you the reins today, Jess," he announced to her, heading towards the door. "They're all yours."

"Will you come back when I'm done?" I could use some help shaking off the rust."

"We'll see," he replied, running a hand through his dark hair. "In the meantime, go show those punks how it's done."

A smile crossed her face and her eyes sparkled as her hazel gaze returned to the squared circle in the center of the room.

_Home at last._

* * *

"Good morning, everyone," she greeted the developmental talents brightly as she approached the ring. "Al's taking care of some business today, so I'm in charge. I hope you don't mind."

The chairs around the ring quickly filled up with the young guns, sitting as attentive as school children.

"I want you all to know that I have a lot of faith in this place," Jessica smiled at them as she leaned against the ring apron. "The last time I was here, it was a developmental pool the likes of which I have never ever seen. We had guys like Dave Batista, Randy Orton, and John Cena all down here at the same time," she added, her hazel eyes scanning the crowd.

They passed over a few of the women and locked onto a young man, pushing twenty years old, with bright blue eyes and spiky black hair.

"Some of you even remind me of a lot of them, but I believe that the times of OVW has come again and today, I hope to help push it along. I'm going to start with the girls first. Then the guys," the youngest McMahon pushed herself off of the apron. "After that, I'm going to work off some ring rust and humiliate myself in front of you all."

Instantly, everyone broke into subdued chuckles.

"Now, let's get to work."

* * *

"Come on, Shawn!" Jessica pounded down on the mat. "You have to flow from move to move. Don't hesitate so that you can talk… you're calling it. Take control!"

He nodded, but still continued repeating the same pattern in his attack.

She ground her teeth together in frustration, "Stop! Shawn… out of the ring. You're supposed to make him look good. Your life is in his hands. Don't screw him over…"

The buzzed-haired rookie scowled and skulked out of the ring, "Bitch."

"That attitude will get you no where, especially with management. You're done for the day," she sniped back at him. "Go home."

"But…"

"Go. Home," she repeated and pointed at the blue eyed kid who had reminded her of someone else previously. "Get in there."

The rookie nodded and scurried into the ring with the other rookie by the name of Ken.

Jessica smirked up at them, "Lock it up, boys."

The young man lunged and backed him into the corner.

He was a natural.

* * *

"Alright, that's enough for now. Go grab lunch," Jessica ordered them with a smile, but put a hand out as the blue-eyed man tried to leave. "Not yet."

His eyes almost bordered on puppy-life, "Did I do something wrong?"

She shook her head, "Not at all. You've got good fundamentals. I just want to work with you on a few moves of yours, maybe how to take a few you're not used to if that's alright."

As the last of the developmental talents filed out to grab lunch the young man turned to her, "But who am I going to wrestle?"

Jessica grinned at him mischievously in the now-empty complex, "me."

"But aren't you…"

"Consider this my time to work off ring rust," she assured him, sliding her jeans off of her hips, revealing a pair of black shorts and wrestling boots. "Don't tell me you didn't notice my feet?"

His turquoise eyes glinted, "The last thing I'd ever look at are your feet."

The older wrestler shoved him playfully, "Get in the damn ring."

* * *

After about twenty minutes of lock-up and footwork adjustments, Jessica sat atop one of the turnbuckles.

"Your basics are solid, kid," the blonde nodded with a grin. "You ready for some match work?"

"Definitely," he agreed, nodding eagerly, and moved to the center of the ring as she stood up atop the corner. "What are you doing?"

The blonde shrugged, "Catch me."

Leaving her student little time to react, Jessica leapt off the turnbuckle in a crossbody attack.

A few seconds later, he snatched her out of the air and placed her on her feet.

"Good job," she commended him, smoothing down his shirt. "Try holding me next time," she added, climbing back up top. "And then powerslam me."

His eyes nearly bulged out of his head, "What?!"

"You heard me," Jessica retorted, steadying herself on the corner. "Powerslam me."

He nodded nervously and waited for her to jump.

Like a swan, the nimble dove from the top rope and flew through the heavy air.

Once again, the young man caught her and held onto her tightly, before powerslamming her a few moments later.

She hit the mat with a loud thud and hopped back to her feet naturally.

"Good job," she commended him, smoothing down her shirt. "Can you do that if I run at you?"

He shrugged his bulky shoulders, "I think so."

"Alright," she nodded and backed up to the corner.

Jessica took off running for the rookie, with absolutely no difficulty, and he scooped her up, slamming her to the mat hard.

She kipped up a few moments later, "I think that we're good on powerslams."

"Come on!" she shoved him lightly. "You need to stay stiff to throw a shoulder."

"I don't want to hurt you," his blue eyes darted to his own boots.

She groaned, "I am not going to get hurt, okay? I'm here to work off the rust and you're not exactly helping."

"Sorry…"

"It's alright," the blonde woman sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Let's just work a match, okay?"

* * *

As the talents of Ohio Valley Wrestling filed into the room, they quickly took notice of the fast-paced action in the ring and began setting up folding chairs.

Many, especially the girls, were incredibly surprise to see the six-foot, one inch young man working a match with the five-foot, seven inch Jessica McMahon.

He shoulder blocked Jessica and ricocheted off the ropes, but she rolled underneath him and me the rookie with a boot to the stomach off the rebound.

"Go up top!" one of the women, who had light skin and dark brown hair, cheered her on in a British accent.

"Go up top!" the rest of talents joined her. "Go up top!"

Jessica couldn't help but smile and head for the turnbuckle.

Slowly, she climbed the ropes before studying herself on the top rung.

A second later, she sucked in a deep breath.

It had been eight months since she'd done this. The last time had been the night she'd blown out her ACL.

But she couldn't let this one go. She'd have to do it eventually.

* * *

"_Jessica is climbing the top rope!" J.R. boomed into his headset._

_Jerry Lawler soon joined in, "She might do it, J.R.! This might just do it!"_

* * *

As her opponent stumbled around the ring, she laid in waiting.

Then finally, he stood…

… and she flew.

* * *

"_Hurricarana, King! It's a Hurricarana!"_

* * *

For a moment, she laid on her back, staring up at the lights overhead, realizing just how much she had missed them.

The blonde crawled over to the center of the ring and slowly rose to her feet.

With every ounce of strength that she had left in her body, Jessica tucked his legs into a triangle, stepped between his limbs, bridge backwards, and locked her hands around his neck.

Moments later, the young rookie tapped.

* * *

"_Ivory has tapped, J.R.! Ivory has tapped to the Blackout!!"_

* * *

The room was empty now. It had been about an hour since her opponent had tapped out and headed for the men's changing room.

He was a good kid, with a lot of potential. The blue-eyed rookie was both genetically gifted and naturally athletic.

But it was when Jessica left the women's locker room, after a shower and change into a black tank and destroyed jeans, and noticed the twenty-year old leaving his own changing area, that she realized she didn't even know his name.

"Hey, kid!" her voice echoed to him, causing him to stop in his tracks. "Wait up!"

"Hi," he greeted her somewhat shyly as she approached.

She smiled at his passivity, "You did great today… keep it up."

He grinned rather boyishly, "Thanks. That means a lot coming from someone like you."

"Thanks," the twenty-eight year old nodded appreciatively. "Listen, I didn't catch your name before."

The young man slid his hands into his light jean pockets, "Cody."

After studying him for a moment, it dawned on her.

"Cody Runnels," Jessica marveled, placing a hand over her mouth in shock.

"In the flesh," he smiled, his light blue shirt rippling as he shifted.

"My God. The last time I saw you, you were eleven years old. I didn't even recognize you. You should have said something!"

"Please, my reputation down here is hard enough to shake. Being friends with Shawn isn't easy…"

"Cody," the youngest McMahon sibling sighed. "The kid is bad news."

"I know," he nodded as they began walking, "But he's my best friend.

"Just… just don't turn into a mini-Orton on me, okay?" she looked at him hopefully. "One of him is hard enough to deal with."

The second generation superstar agreed, "Okay."

"Okay," she repeated as she pushed open the cool metal door.

But the outside parking lot wasn't nearly as empty as expected.

Instead, it was teeming with all members of OVW and they were all standing and cheering.

For her.

And when she turned to make a comment to Cody, she found that he was giving her an ovation, as well.

Yet, it was in that very moment Jessica realized just how close her moment of return was, an ovation waiting to be witnessed.

Those anonymous faces, the semi-familiar places…

That was what she lived for.

* * *

**A/N 2: So I know it was kind of short, BUT I really wanted to crank out a story on my birthday and She's a Rebel II just felt right.**

**Speaking of things feeling right, I think I finally know the exact way that the next (and finally chapter) of SAR II is going to go. Chapter 20 will be upon us soon… I swear. And you guys are going to come out in droves.**

**By the way, could you spot any WWE Superstars in this one besides Cody? Well, just to let you know… one of these superstars plays a huge role in SAR IV. But that's a ways away. Hehe.**

**I have a new story up called "Confessions of a Playboy." It's a Randy story. Please check it out!**

**Shout-outs:**

**Candace McMahon – **I know you do, Candace. I know.

**Chain Gang Princess – **Honestly, I have no idea how I wrote that. It took a while. As for Randy's ringtone, I could totally picture it. If I ever have his number, he gets that ringtone… STAT!

**Westfan – **I'm glad you liked the rap. I was laughing while writing it. I think that's about all I can say because seriously, at this point… what do we have left to talk about?

**Goddessofthenite – **Same goes for you. What else is there left to talk about?

**Queen Chaos-Hardy – **Thanks for the birthday IM and I'm always glad to fill your daily dose of Hardy!

**Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 – **I think now, more than ever, Jeff needs his priorities straightened. There's a genuine part of me that really thinks he's doing it so far.

**Nic-002001 – **Thank you! I had a great trip and I'm home in one piece!

**Laffy.x.Taffy – **I appreciate your dedication!

**The.Black.Psycho.Barbie – **Guess what? I can drive. Pwned. Love you!

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – **It seems that rap was quite popular. Damn. I'm glad you liked it.

**Dj-ssdd – **I'm so glad you like this story. And yeah, that moves was pretty cool.

**Lady Luv – **Woo hoo! Shameless plugs totally work. I'm glad you enjoy the story and I hope you like this one too!

**Speaking of shameless plugs, I highly suggest that you go check out "Courage of the Heart"by Westfan… BECAUSE Jessica makes quite a few appearances in that fic.**

**Speaking of appearances, what'd you think of the Rock's appearance? I loved seeing him back, but I would have preferred less comedy hour and more tribute. Then again, that's just me.**

**Speaking of just me, was it… erm… just me, or were you all bawling at the end of RAW too? All of those superstars coming back, reminds me of old times…**

**And speaking of old times, The Rock will be making a lot more appearances in She's a Rebel III. I'm going to go a liiittle bit AU on this one and take some creative license. You'll see what I'm talking about.**

**That was a good list of segues, huh?**

**I already know what the new title of SAR III is, but you're just going to have to wait, everyone. Sorry.**

**So… I hope you enjoy this chapter… and I hope you all give me great presents in the form of reviews.**

**Happy reading!**

**Danielle**


	20. Chapter 20

After a Samoan Spike to John's throat, and the subsequent pin to keep his winning streak alive, Edge sent the still-undefeated wrestler to the back. As he retreated, the Canadian blonde stood over his rival's writhing body, taunting the injured wrestler.

He reached down with both of his arms and pulled John to the center of the ring while motioning to Lita.

Lita stood atop the turnbuckle and jumped off, executing a perfect moonsault directly on top of him, the impact of which sent him into extreme pain.

Moving in for the kill, Edge dragged John to the corner of the ring, nearest the ramp, and picked him up. With some help from his harlot of a girlfriend, he propped up the dazed wrestler and backed up to the diagonally opposing corner, the one which was so often his own.

With a maniacal look in his eye, he stared at John, briefly reveling in the moment.

"He's going to spear, Cena!" Lawler announced, watching the current WWE Champion.

"Someone stop this man!" J.R. plead into the headset in disgust.

As if on cue, green and violet lights appeared on stage.

_She's a rebel, she's a saint, she's the salt of the earth, and she's dangerous._

Almost immediately, Edge and Lita froze and turned to look at the ramp.

"Oh my God! Oh my God!"

"Is that who I think it is?"

_She's a rebel, vigilante, missing link on the brink of destruction._

Jessica burst through the curtain to an immense ovation of screams, yells, cheers, and applause.

With a smirk, the caramel-curled blonde, dressed in a pair of acid washed jeans and a black top, emblazoned with her nickname in red, old English text, stared down at the couple. He was the man who had betrayed her trust and broken her heart. She was the woman who had caused all of the horrific pain she had endured in the last ten months.

Without warning, she charged the ring, but by the time she dove between the apron and bottom rope, the cowardly champion had already retreated into the crowd, leaving his girlfriend to defend for herself.

Jessica sauntered over to the redhead, the right corner of her mouth turned upwards.

Lita held up her hands and backed up, pleading for mercy, but soon ran out of room once she hit the ropes.

The caramel blonde nodded and began to backpedal, but immediately changed her mind and landed a hellacious clothesline on her nemesis, causing her to roll backwards over the top rope and onto the floor below.

Despite the loud pop of the fans in attendance, Jessica immediately turned and checked on her boyfriend, still propped up in the corner.

With the breather, he was now able to stand on his own and placed a hand on his neck. Finally, regaining his senses, John's sapphire gaze turned to his rescuer and locked onto the hazel eyes of his girlfriend.

Despite the incredible ache in his body, he reached out a strong arm and pulled her into his chest, using the other arm to steady himself on the top rope. A little while later, his other arm encircled her body and he was able to stand on his own.

"I missed you," he whispered into her ear. "Ten months was too long to wait until you stood in this ring with me again."

Jessica nodded, "I know. I missed you too."

John pulled back and looked into her eyes, "But you don't belong to me, Jess. You belong to them," he added and turned to look out at the crowd. "Go say hello."

Her hazel gaze followed out into the endless sea of bodies and nameless faces.

Wordlessly, she walked to the turnbuckle and pulled herself atop the corner between the crowd and the announcer's table, shooting a pair of rocker hands into the air.

The crowd burst into a huge ovation as John looked on from the center of the ring, a smile of satisfaction gracing the twenty-nine year old's face.

A jolt of adrenaline shot through Jessica's veins and she beamed out into the mass of loyal fans.

The Rebel was back and this was the moment she had been waiting for, over ten months in the making.

* * *

The chime of the doorbell echoed through the West Newbury house as Jessica finished preparing the various appetizers for her guests.

"John!" she called to her denim shorts and black tank-clad boyfriend in the other room as he was watching Sportscenter. "Can you get that?"

"Sure," he nodded and placed the remote down on the coffee table before making his way to the door.

After opening it, he found that his former Wrestlemania rival and one of his bosses was on the other side, but they were not alone.

"Look at you," John marveled softly at the baby in Stephanie's arms. "Your auntie Jess told me you were beautiful, but you are even prettier than I expected."

"Say thank you to your Uncle John," Stephanie smiled down at her infant daughter.

"Don't you think it's a little early for that, Steph?" Paul laughed in amusement beside her.

She rolled her eyes at her husband, "I know she's only a week old, thank you very much."

He shook his pony-tailed mane, "No, that's not what I meant…"

"Where is my niece?" a voice called from the kitchen. "Where is my Aurora?" Jessica asked as she appeared around the corner. "There you are."

"Hey, Jess," her brother-in-law greeted her from the hall.

"Hi, Paul," she greeted him in turn with a kiss on the cheek, followed by the same to her sister. "Steph," she added and bent over to smile down at her niece. "And you too, Rory."

"Are we the first ones here?" Steph inquired curiously.

The younger sister nodded, "How was the drive?"

"Not bad," Paul shook his head. "She slept the whole way."

"Didn't get that from our side of the family…"

The youngest McMahon child smiled at the sound of the voice, "Mom."

"Hey, baby," Linda greeted her younger daughter with a kiss, followed by her older one. "Paul, John," she smiled and gave each one a hug.

"Where's my granddaughter?" Vince asked loudly as he entered through the open door, only to be shushed by everyone inside. "What?"

"Being loud again, are we, Vince?" a male voice asked in a heavy Boston accent.

John laughed, "Hey, Dad. Nice of you to show up."

"It was a long walk," he shrugged as he walked into the house, his two youngest sons in tow.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Dan arrived, followed by his mother, Carol. Soon after, Shane and Marissa arrived with Declan and Kenyon, but the gathering was not complete without Steve, Jamie, and their four children, who arrived forty minutes after the eldest McMahon child.

But now, hours after the last arrival, the barbeque was in full swing.

"I don't know how you do it, Vince," John Senior commented before taking a swig of beer from his can on the deck.

"Do what?" Vince asked, taking a drink of Diet Pepsi.

He chuckled heartily, "Everything. Be a businessman, father, grandfather, and husband."

He sighed and watched as Jessica snuck up behind Steve and pushed him into the swimming pool, "I failed at one."

"So did I," John nodded, glancing at Carol. "But three out of four ain't bad, Vince. You've done a hell of a job with your daughter, despite what you think."

"I should be thanking you for that," Vince countered and took another drink.

"Don't," he shook the chairman off. "It was all Diana."

"You know something, Cena," Vince leaned back. "You did a great job with John too."

Cena smiled with gratitude, "Thank you."

For a little while, they entered a period of silence, watching as their families interacted poolside.

Paul, a still-soaked Steve, and Dan were sitting with their beers, talking about various, non-wrestling related topics.

Stephanie and Linda were sitting with the infants, getting the cousins off to a good start.

Sean and Matt were both goofing off in the pool with their nieces and nephews, as well as Declan, while attempting not to drown.

Linda, Jamie, and Carol were drinking wine on one of the poolside benches, with Carol stopping every now and then to chastise her sons for splashing her.

Suddenly, Vince broke the silence, "Do you think they're going to be okay?"

Senior was confused, "Who?"

The McMahon patriarch watched the owners of the house intently as they sat close together on the side of the pool, their feet dangling in the water, "John and Jess."

He nodded, "I do. I think I'm more worried about him than her."

Vince couldn't help but chuckle, "Understandable. She'll take good care of him, John. We both know that."

"I know," the wrestler's father concurred. "But I swear, I look at them sometimes and I see two third-graders playing with Hulk Hogan action figures in my son's bedroom."

"They're good kids, John."

"Yeah… yeah, they are."

* * *

As the afternoon faded into the evening, the kids changed out of their bathing suits and sat down for dinner.

The large table at the center of the deck was reserved for all of the adults and the smaller table off to the side was for the children.

Soon, the hot dogs and hamburgers, side dishes, and drinks vanished from the table, as the sun did from the sky.

"Hey, Paul?" John called to his fellow wrestlers as the last of the dirty dishes were dropped into the black garbage bag.

"Yeah?" the older man replied.

He stood from the deck chair beside his girlfriend, "I've got some tiki torches in the garage. Can you help me with them?"

"Sure, man," he nodded and followed John into the house, patting him on the shoulder.

"Jessica, it's getting a little cold out," Linda decided as she zipped up Declan's sweatshirt. "You should probably go and change into jeans."

The blonde rolled her eyes, "Mom, I'm twenty-eight years old…"

"What does that have to do with the temperature?" her mother shot her a look.

Her daughter sighed, "Alright, alright."

And as they watched her disappear into the house, Stephanie, Marissa, Jamie, and Linda couldn't help but smile.

* * *

By the time Jessica returned to the table, in a pair of faded jeans and a royal purple thermal with silver foil designs on the front, John and Paul had put tiki torches up around the deck, illuminating it in a romantic orange glow.

"Better, Mother?" her eyebrow arched.

"Much," the older blonde nodded.

"What about you?" she turned to her boyfriend, now dressed in a pair of jeans and a light blue polo, with a white tee shirt cuffed underneath it, along with a pair of Reeboks.

His azure eyes glinted as he smirked, "This is Boston, not Greenwich. It gets a little cold in the summer."

"Whatever," she rolled her hazel eyes at him and reached for her wine glass, taking a long drink of the white zinfandel.

"Well," John began, slapping his hands down on his thighs, "If you guys don't mind, I'd like to make a toast."

"Go right ahead, son," his father replied boisterously, raising a glass to his son.

The younger John nodded and stood up from his chair, "We have quite a few things to celebrate tonight. For one, we have Jessica's official return to the ring this past Monday night, after what I know, firsthand, was an incredibly difficult road to recovery. Jess, would you please stand up."

With an embarrassed grin, his girlfriend rose to her feet as the family applauded and tucked a strand of straight, blonde hair behind her ear, "Thank you."

A proud smile on his face, John continued on, "Not to mention… an album that officially went platinum on Monday, as well."

Paul whistled loudly at that notion.

"Thanks, Paul," Jessica laughed at her brother-in-law's enthusiasm.

"But most importantly," John continued, allowing his sapphire eyes to glance around the table, "Tonight we celebrate the first occasion that all of the members of the McMahon family and the Cena family are together, in one place."

As he finished his sentence, the twenty-nine year old took his girlfriend by the hand and led her to the head of the rectangular table, unobstructed by any chairs.

"And it's because of this gathering of our familes," John began, now standing in front of her so that their eyes were completely locked, "That I'd like to add something to the list of occasions to celebrate."

A smile played at the corner of his lips as his girlfriend sported a look of total and utter confusion on her face.

He slid his hands into his pockets, looking from the wooden deck to her tanned face, "Ten years ago, I let you walk out of my life and it was the stupidest mistake I've ever made. But by some miracle, I managed to find you again and came to see just how much I truly love you."

Jessica's face softened and she smiled lovingly at him, "I love you too."

"And this last year we've been together has made me realize that I never want to let you go again," John added, allowing both of his hands to withdraw from his pockets before dropping to rest on his left knee, the other bent slightly before him. His right hand opened to reveal a black velvet box, which he popped open with his left. After a moment of pause, he looked up at her with shining azure eyes, "Jessica Juliette McMahon, will you marry me?"

Silence washed over the normally-talkative young woman who was rarely at a loss for words, but in that moment, John had managed to not only take her words away, but take her breath away, as well.

Jessica nodded as a bright grin spread across her face, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.

"Yes?" his eyes lit up, still resting on one knee.

"Yes," she repeated after him, wiping away a stray tear. "Of course I'll marry you."

John removed the white gold ring, consisting of a seven karat emerald-cut diamond in the center, flanked by two matching, three and a half karat stones on each side, from its velvet holder and slipped it on her finger.

With a smile now equally as large as hers, John rose to his feet, "I love you."

Jessica reached up and slipped her hands around his neck, pressing her lips briefly to his, "I love you too… so much."

After a strong hand pushed a lock of blonde hair behind her ear, she wrapped her arms around him tightly, holding onto the man she had loved for as long as she could remember, the man she could now called her fiancé.

And as both John and Jessica's families looked on, they could only beam across the table at the couple, as the night marked the first step in permanently joining the McMahons and the Cenas forever…

An event over twenty years in the making.

* * *

**A/N: I can't believe it's over. It's come a long way since September, hasn't it?**

**I must admit that I went back and forth over the exact way this ended around a thousand times and a few of my classmates and co-workers will attest to the fact it took me two or three days to just decide what John was going to wear after he changed.**

**I sincerely hope that you all enjoyed this ending and enjoyed She's a Rebel II: Unravel altogether. I think that Jessica deserved a happy ending in this one, considering she got such a crappy one last story.**

**Like I told you before, I totally hinted at this ending a bunch of times.**

**For example… in chapter 14:**

_Rob shook his head and laughed as Kasey appeared near the car, "I'm not too worried. You'll forget about all this in four or five months anyway."_

**This took place in February… five months later, John proposed. Guess what they were doing that day? **

**Ring shopping.**

**A few of you, namely Enigmatic Lotus Leaf, thought this was a strange answer, but no one really hit the nail on the head.**

**This was echoed again in Chapter 16, in John's monologue to Diana:**

"_You know better than anyone else that I love her. You saw what I did back in February, back in Tampa. You understand, don't you?" he sighed._

**Once again, he was talking about the ring.**

**The last set of hints really came in this chapter, Chapter 20, mainly this one:**

"_Say thank you to your Uncle John," Stephanie smiled down at her infant daughter._

"_Don't you think it's a little early for that, Steph?" Paul laughed in amusement beside her._

_She rolled her eyes at her husband, "I know she's only a week old, thank you very much."_

_He shook his pony-tailed mane, "No, that's not what I meant…"_

**The entire family knew… and Paul was saying that it was a bit early for Aurora to consider John her uncle because he hadn't proposed quite yet.**

**Moving on…**

**I promise that She's a Rebel III is going to bring a lot more drama to the situation, especially when it comes to the fact that John and Jessica are… wedding planning! Eeek! A McCena wedding!**

**This next story is going to be written in a very interesting format. Once it's posted, I'll explain it in my first author's note.**

**Since I will NOT be telling you the sub-title of this one, I suggest that you add me to your **_**author alert**_** list. I'd like to surprise you all.**

**So for the last time in She's a Rebel II: Unravel…. Shout outs!**

**Goddessofthenite – **Thank you, bestest friend! The mention wasn't of Charlie, it was of Katie Lea Burchill. That was a toughie though. You did get Kenny Dykstra and Cody, though. What'd you think of the ending?

**Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – **If you remember what the Rock said to Jessica about mentoring, it'll come into play somewhat in the fourth one. But that's a long ways off. As for Cody, I just refer to him as mini-Orton, sometimes as an insult, sometimes as a joke. I hope that the first chapter of SAR III lives up to your expectations!

**Sideways anger – **I do love to add little fun things every now and then. I'm glad you liked those flashbacks, but I'm guessing you liked the current match better, huh? I totally did too.

**Da-Real-Mrs-Cena102100 – **Whoa… total Twilight Zone birthday effect! It was sad to see Ric go, but it was time for him to move on. Speaking of moving on, I hope that you enjoy the end of SAR II and the beginning of SAR III!

**CandaceMcMahon – **I'm sure you loved this chapter because Shane made an appearance, knowing you!

**Inday – **You couldn't wait until they caught up with each other… now what do you think?

**Nic-002001 – **Yeah, I wish I was there for a secret meeting with John. Our schedules just didn't match up… haha.

**The.Black.Psycho.Barbie – **Hey, if you'll pay my gas money, I'll drive you. Obviously, I can too. I was my school spelling bee champion three years in a row back in elementary school. Not to mention, I was also my middle school geography bee champion two years running… sorry about the Runnels. But I think I made him tolerable for you. What'd you think of this update?

**Snap DDT – **Yeah, the plan is still on. But you've gotta keep it on the DL, Runnels… I mean, Becky.

**Queen Chaos-Hardy – **Yeah, British accents rule. Although, right now, Katie Lea's incest angle does not. So… was this worth the wait?

**Chain Gang Princess – **The other future superstars were Kenny Dykstra and Katie Lea. The Shawn in question was Shawn Spears, I'm not sure if I mentioned that or not. I can't believe this is the last either, but Part III will probably be up once I hit around 16-18 reviews.

**Jada951 – **Thank you!

**Westfan – **I know I've been telling you that this was coming for a while, but it's finally here! And I love how you knew exactly who the guy was the moment she walked in. Leave it to you and me. Now that the end is here, what do you think?

**Miniature-hero – **Well, this was a very good time to have two weeks to read!

**Sailormama – **Thank you… times two! I hope this chapter was up to your expectations.

**Thank you all for the birthday wishes and for the praise you've given me over the course of this story. I hope that She's a Rebel III lives up to all of your expectations.**

**To the following people who have reviewed since September…**

**Goddess.of,discord, goddessofthenite, The.Black.Psycho.Barbie, AznIntegra, Sammy91, Enigmatic Lotus Leaf, JeffHardyFan02, TheRealKellyAnne, Chain Gang Princess, dj-ssdd, Chenai, hbkcenaortonaddict, Adrian Jade, Inday, Cena130, Broken.Baby.Gyrl, asher02, cena07, cassymae, miniature-hero, Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100, JCEdgeRKO, lil-miss-wrestling-fan, AzMiGu, Ashleigh, CandaceMcMahon, sweetortonlover86, pr0udpnaii x33, giftiebee, Westfan, nic-002001, Dani, Help Me Delete, jada951, Queen Chaos-Hardy, Lady Luv, Laffy.x.Taffy, xtobelovedx, and Snap DDT**

… **Thank you.**

**VERY Special Shout-outs:**

**Chantel (The.Black.Psycho.Barbie)**** – Thank you for keeping me on my toes intellectually and perpetually amused by your comments. No matter what anyone says, I love them.**

**Kasey (Westfan)**** – Thank you for preventing me from killing my husband and/or leaving him for David Wright… although I am still tempted… as well as supporting this story from the very beginning.**

**Brittany (giftiebee)**** – Thank you for being one of my loyal readers, as well as my loyal friends. Fifth Element forever! (And for sharing my love of Cena… through EVERYTHING.)**

**Charlie (Queen Chaos-Hardy)**** – Thank you for reading SAR I and II in a span of less than twenty-four hours, a feat that still floors me to this day. I can't wait until you come to the states and I finally get to enjoy that British accent of yours!**

**Julia (Goddessofthenite)**** – Thank you for nagging me to finish, even when I wasn't ready, and always keeping your expectations of me high.**

**For the last time in She's a Rebel II: Unravel... PLEASE REVIEW! If you haven't reviewed at all, or haven't reviewed in a while, please let me know how I did. It means a lot to me.**

**Rock on rebels,**

**Danielle**


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